A New Beginning
by Bloody Amethyst
Summary: Lucy is awaken by a knock on the door in the middle of the night, outside is a wounded Cobra, and he is asking for her help. She gives it and never regretted the choice with all that follows. Read to find out what she and her new teammate encounters after she was kicked out of her old team.
1. Chapter 1 - A Surprise Visit

Chapter 1 - Surprise Visit

Lucy POV  
I was woken up by a loud knock on my from door. Thinking it must be someone from the guild I threw on a robe and, in case something had happened, grabbed my keys. I opened the door and I gasped, there, outside my door, stood Cobra, and he was hurt, badly.  
"Can I come in?" He asked, the pain was obvious in his voice. I hesitated then moved aside with a nod to let him in. "Thank you." He said. I nodded. Then I closed the door and thought.  
 _What happened to him? Whatever it was it must have been really bad._ Then I walked in to the living room and saw him standing there, looking a bit lost. I couldn't help but smile a bit. "Bathroom is through that door. Go cleaned up, I will see if I can find some clothes that fits you while you do." He looked at me, confused, then nodded and went in to the bathroom. I could hear the shower turn on. _He seems a bit dazed. And he was favoring his right leg._ I thought as I take out my big first aid kit, months of working with destructive and careless mages had taught me to always have at least two sizes of first aid kits, one large, that is for heavy damage and one small, for minor things. Then I took out Virgos key. "Open gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" I said, and she appeared beside me in a golden glittering puff.  
"Punishment Hime?" She asked, I sighed.  
"No, Virgo. But I need clothes for a male guest who is hurt. Can you fix that?" I asked, she nodded and disappeared, then reappeared, this time with a pile of clothes. I gave her a smile.  
"Will these be good for the poison slayer?" She asked, I took the clothes and smiled, not surprised in the least that she knew who was here.  
"Those will be great. Thanks Virgo." I said with a smile. She nodded and left. I put the clothes on the sofa. Then I took out one of the extra futons I have and laid it out on the floor.  
Shortly thereafter I heard the shower turn off, then the sounds of someone moving around before the door opened. Cobra came out with only a towel around his hips. I probably would have blushed if not for the numerous of wounds he had. I gestured for him to sit down on the couch then I sat on the table in front of him and took out the things I would need from the first aid kit before walking around him and started with the injuries he had on his back.

Cobra POV  
I looked around the apartment I was in. Then down at the blond woman in front of me as she patched me up, she had already bandaged my back. I was confused to say the least. I couldn't understand why she helped me, or even why she let me in to her home. I was thankful tho. I knew that without help there was a huge chance of me not surviving.  
"Can I ask what happened? Or is that something you rather not talk about?" She suddenly asked me, I looked at her but she was focused on my wounds. I sighed.  
"We were ambushed by some dark mages. The others were captured but I managed to get away, but got hurt in the process." I explained, then I wondered why I even told her that much.  
"And how did you end up on my doorstep?" She asked, still not looking up.  
"I followed the first scent I recognized, I remembered you from when we met and there was something that told me that you would help. I don't know what tho." I said, she just nodded.  
"It's good to listen to instinct some times." She said  
"Why are you helping me? After everything I have done." I said, now she looked up at me. Her big brown eyes was clear and honest.  
"I don't believe leaving a bleeding person to die on my doorstep is a good thing, no matter who they are. Sure, if you had actually killed someone I know and care about, then I might have kicked you out of here, but you haven't. And I also believe that everyone deserve a second chance, no matter who they are or have been." She said and went back to patching up the last of the wounds. I was stunned. This woman was weird, but a good type of weird. "There. All done." She said and sat up straight.  
"Thank you." I said and tried to stand up, but everything spun around and it sent me right back down again.  
"Careful there. You should rest for the night. And tomorrow we will see what to do about your friends. I will do everything I can to make sure they're safe" She said, I looked at her.  
 _Is she crazy for real?_ I asked myself. "And where would I sleep?" I asked her, she pointed at the futon on the floor.  
"There of course." She said and stood up and pointed at some clothes. "There is clothes you can use. I hope you can get them on yourself. At least the underwear." She said with a small smirk. I could feel my face heating up.  
 _What's with this woman?_ "I will make it." I said with determination. She gave me a soft smile as her smirk faded away.  
"Good, I'm just going to clean up, so be done when I come back." She said and walked in to the bathroom. I looked at the pile of clothes and took out a pair of deep red boxers, I managed to pull them on without standing up but it left me dizzy.  
 _I must have lost more blood then I thought._ I thought as the world stopped spinning. I put the towel on the armrest. Then the woman, I can't remember her name, something on L I think it was, came back.  
"Good, you managed. Come on. Lets get you to bed." She said and extended her hands to me, I hesitated, then grabbed them, she helped me up on my feet and she had to support a lot of my weight as she helped me to the futon. Then she lowered me down carefully, and after I was lying there she smiled. "There. See you tomorrow." She said and walked over to her own bed, hanging her robe on the headboard.  
"Thank you, for helping me." I said  
"No problem. Good night." She said  
"Good night." I said, and fell asleep. My last thought was that I hoped that Cubellios and the others were alright.

Lucy POV  
 _I can't believe Cobra is here, and how did they manage to ambush him? With his hearing?_ I thought and realized that he probably knew exactly what I thought tonight. I blushed, remembering how well trained he was. Sure, I was used to Natsu and Gray showing of their muscles all the time, but they are children compare to Cobra. He is an adult.  
And with those unsettling thoughts I fell asleep.

END OF CHAPTER 1


	2. Chapter 2 - A Rescue Mission

Chapter 2 - A Rescue Mission

Cobra POV  
I woke to the sound and smell of food cooking and someone singing in a low voice. It was strangely soothing. Then I opened my eyes and looked around, not understanding where I was at first, I panicked, then I recognized the scent of fresh strawberries and chocolate and I remembered where I was. I was at that blond woman from Fairy Tails apartment. I tried to sit up and felt that my whole body had gone stiff, I swore under my breath. And as if she heard me the blond woman poked her head in to the room.  
"Ah, you are awake. Good, breakfast is done. Do you need help getting up?" She said, I tried sitting up again.  
"Yea, I might need help." I sighed, I felt weak and helpless. But instead of laughing she just can over to me and helped me up, supporting more of my weight then she should be able to handle, she helped me over to the couch where the clothes were.  
"I will be out in the kitchen as soon as I'm dressed." I said, trying to get back some of my pride. But she just shook her head.  
"You stay in here after you get your clothes on. I will get the food in here." She said and left. I started putting on the clothes and was surprised to notice that they fit perfectly. After a few minutes did she come back with a tray with food. Pancakes with syrup and bacon. I smiled. We ate in silence and when the food was gone she started putting everything back on the tray.  
"Let me help. I feel like you have done nothing but taken care of me since I showed up here." I said, realizing that was actually the truth, that was what had been happening since I showed up.  
"You are hurt. You don't have to do anything." She said  
"But still." I said  
"If you want to do something you can tell me exactly what happened yesterday." She said, I hesitated, then nodded.  
"I will tell you. You might know what can be done, I have no idea." I said, slumping down deeper in to the couch. For the first time in my life since I escaped the tower of heaven did I feel useless.  
"You can tell me as soon as I have put this in the dishwasher." She said and I nodded. She left for the kitchen and came back a few minutes later. "So, tell me everything." She said and sat down beside me, I took a deep breath.  
"Okay, first of. Me and my team have joined Crime Sorcière. So we were with Jellal and Meredy, except for Brain who is dead, and all of us have gotten our names cleared, due to us taking down so many dark guilds, so now we sort of work for the council." I started, the only reaction I got was a nod. "We were tracking down a dark guild, an assassination guild to be exact, they don't have a set guildhall, so they move from place to place. We were close, I could smell them, but then out of nowhere this monster attacked, it seemed to be slightly immune to magic, barley anything we did worked, and this monster made so much noise that I missed the mages when they attacked just after we managed to kill it, and we were overwhelmed, there were too many of them, they managed to capture the others one after the other, and when there was just me and Meredy left she told me to get away and try to get help, somewhere, anywhere. So she covered for me as I got away, and then I ended up here." I said, I looked at her and saw that she was biting her lower lip while she took in what I had said.  
"I think we should tell master about this. And we need Wendy to look at your wounds. After that we can figure out what to do." She said  
"You think your master will agree to help? Even after everything I put the members of the guild through?" I asked her, she looked at me and smiled.  
"No, he will help. Simply because I ask him." She said, I nodded.  
"Okay. Tell him." I said  
"I will do that. Wait here, I will be back in a short while." She said, I nodded and she left after having grabbed her belt where her keys and whip was hanging from.

Lucy POV  
I ran down the street to the guild, I chose to enter through the back door so I could get up to master faster. I knocked on his door and heard a 'come in' and opened the door. I found master and Laxus sitting doing paperwork.  
"Hello, child. What can I do for you?" Master asked, I hesitated.  
"I have no idea how to say this, so I will just say it bluntly." I said, I saw how both of them straightened and looked closer at me.  
"What have happened child?" Master asked  
"I have a very surprising guest in my apartment right now. And he needs our help. And Wendy's." I said  
"Go on." Master said, I took a deep breath.  
"It's Cobra." I said, I could see how Masters eyes widened. Laxus looked confused.  
"Who is Cobra?" He asked  
"A former member of Oración Seis." I said, and Laxus eyes went wide.  
"What is he doing at your place?" Master asked  
"He came around 1-2am last night, and he was heavily wounded, I couldn't just leave him there." I said, master nodded.  
"Did he tell you what happened to him?" He asked me, I nodded.  
"Yes, and first off, he and the rest of his team except for Brain, who is dead, is now members of Crime Sorcière, and they all have gotten their names cleared and is now sort of working for the council. And they were ambushed last night when they were tracking a assassination guild, and all of the others were taken. I have already promised him I will help him somehow. But as I said, he is wounded, and I do not think I'm strong enough to take out an entire dark guild alone." I said with a rueful smile, master smiled at me.  
"You have gotten a lot stronger lately so it wouldn't surprise me if you were at that level." He said with a smile, then looked at Laxus. "Go and get Wendy, your team and Gajeel, then come back up here, don't tell them anything until you get in here, this is not something the others need to know about just yet." He said, Laxus nodded and left, closing the door behind him.  
"The way you said that, can't someone listen from outside what is said in here?" I asked master, he smiled at me.  
"No, there is a spell over this room, so not even dragon slayers can listen in on what is said in here, except if I want to be heard." He explained. I nodded.  
"Handy." I said, he nodded with a small smile before becoming serious again.  
"Did he tell you anything else?" He asked me. So I told him the whole story as Cobra had told it to me. After I were done master nodded.  
"You did right in promising him to help. We need to do something." He said, I smiled.  
"He was a bit worried that you wouldn't help because of all he and the others has done, but I told him that you would help simply because I ask you to help." I smiled. Master was about to answer when the door opened and the others came in, the exceeds were away visiting the exceed village. Laxus went over to his own chair and sat down, the others looked at us.  
"Okay, it's like this..." Master said and explained the situation. "And I can't force you to help, but Lucy will help him, since she has promised to do so. And I would like it if all of you went with her." He said, looking at them all.  
"You said it was Cobra, but what if it is a trick?" Wendy said, I didn't blame her for being cautious.  
"It's not. Not with those injuries. They were real enough." I said, she nodded, trusting my word.  
"What if it is a trick by that assassination guild?" Gajeel asked  
"How could they have known he would end up on the doorstep of one of the really few members of our guild that would help him?" Laxus asked, that made Gajeel nod.  
"Okay, I'm in." He said, Wendy nodded.  
"Me too." She said, Freed nodded.  
"We will go as well." He said, I smiled at them.  
"Good, Laxus, you go as well. Talk to Cobra first. After Wendy have healed him he can show you where the fight happened." Master said and Laxus nodded and stood up. After that we all left. Luckily no one from Team Natsu was in at the moment. Or there might have been trouble. Just like every time we saw each other lately, it had become worse after I was kicked out off the team a few months ago. Me and the others walked through the streets and up to my apartment, we found Cobra lying down on the couch, his eyes trailed at the door.  
"Hi, I'm back." I said, he sat up, and was close to falling, I ran up to him and steadied him. "Easy there." I said. "Wendy, can you see to his injuries first?" I asked, she nodded and came up to us. She held her hands over him as they glowed, I could see the tension leaving Cobra's body as Wendy's magic did the trick. It took her a few minutes and when she was done she said.  
"There, now all is fixed." She smiled at him, I could see she was nervous. But Cobra smiled back.  
"Thanks, kid. I owe you one." He said, Wendy shook her head with a smile, the nervousness leaving her body.  
"No, I'm just glad I could help." She said and sat down beside me on the couch.  
"So, how do we do this? Lucy told us what happened, and she is right. We can't leave them with that guild. We have to get them back." Laxus said, Cobra nodded.

Cobra POV  
I can't believe it. Blondie, or Lucy as her name apparently is, was right. They really do want to help. I could hear the hesitation and doubt in their thoughts when they first came here. But it seems that the injuries I had convinced them it was real.  
"Can you show us where the attack happened?" The blond guy asked me, I nodded.  
"Yea, it was a bit in to the forest, not far from here." I said  
"Good, then lets go." The guy with piercings said, I nodded and stood up. I stretched and was glad when my body didn't hurt. That blue haired girl, Wendy, really knew what she was doing.  
We left the apartment and after Blond... Lucy, locked up we walked to the forest. It didn't even take us a quarter of fast walking to get where we had been attacked after we had entered the forest.  
"I can smell a lot of people here. None of who I have met." The blond guy said  
"I recognize some of them." The kid... Wendy, said.  
"How many of them have you met?" The green haired guy asked her.  
"All from Crime Sorcière and none of the assassins." She said  
"I recognize two of the assassins scents, and none of the rest." The guy with piercings said. My eyebrows rose.  
"You know them?" I asked him and I could hear him think.  
 _Only because they tried to kill me once._ Then he said. "They had some business with me but I chased them away." I looked at him.  
"They tried to kill you." I said, he blinked.  
"How did you know that?" He asked  
"He can hear what you think." Lucy said calmly as she looked closer at some of the marks from the battle..  
"WHAT!?" Everyone but Lucy and Wendy shouted, I winced slightly at the loud noise.  
"Calm down, or the assassins will learn we are here, unless they already know." Wendy said, sounding exasperated.  
"They aren't close, but that doesn't mean they don't know we are here." I said, Wendy nodded.  
"Lets follow the scent of our friends and get them back." Lucy said, the rest of us nodded. So Wendy, and the two other slayers were in the lead and I followed last, in case of an other attack. The green haired man and his two friends followed directly behind the other three and Lucy walked directly in front of me. Her shoulders were relaxed, but I could sense her alertness, even if her thoughts drifted.  
 _Damn, I hate assassination guilds, always causing trouble. Speaking of which, Jellal was there the last time I went up against someone from an assassination guild as well. Oh, well. I hope no one attacks now, I hate sneak attacks, they are so cowardly. I'm glad I have four strong dragon slayers here, tho if something did happen I'm sure everyone will do well. And I hope the others aren't too hurt when we find them._ I listened to her thoughts and was once again surprised by her. She seemed to trust me, despite what I had done.  
 _She is weird._ I thought, but for some reason did I feel warm when I heard her thoughts, she really was something else.  
"That must be it." I heard one of the people in front whisper and I looked over their shoulders.  
"Can you hear if our friends are there?" Lucy asked, I closed my eyes and concentrated.  
"They are. I can hear them." I said, the others nodded and stated walking towards the doors, I followed.

Nobodys POV  
As the group neared the building they had all guards up. Laxus and Gajeel kicked the doors open and they all ruched in. Lucy pulled out two of her keys while the others readied their own attacks. Cobra thought he might have to keep an eye on Lucy so that she didn't get hurt, especially after everything she had done for him.  
"Who's there?" One of the dark mages asked  
"We are here to get our friends back." Lucy said with anger. The dark mages laughed.  
"And who are you to think you can do that? You are just a weak little slut." One of them said, that made Laxus, his team, Gajeel and Wendy flinch. Then Laxus took a step back, dragging Cobra with him.  
"What are you doing?" He asked  
"If you don't want to risk being dragged in to her attack then stay back." Laxus said, keeping an eye on Lucy through the corner of his eyes.  
"What do you me..." Cobra started but stopped when he felt Lucy's magic swell.  
"Open gate of the Snake, the Crow! Serpens, Corvus!" Lucy said with a strong voice. And a large snake appeared and beside it was a man clad in darkness, he looked as if he was part of the darkness itself.  
"Hime!" Both of them said at the same time.  
"Take those guys out. Now." Lucy said, anger obvious in her voice.  
"As you wish, Hime." They said at the same time. And then they struck.  
Corvus used darkness and blinded everyone, enemy and friend alike, then Serpens slithered over the floor and bit all of the dark mages, one after the other, then Corvus lifted the darkness, and Cobras eyes widened at what he saw.  
All the dark mages lay on the floor, unmoving. He looked at the mages then at Lucy, who was panting slightly, her hands on her knees for support, then back again. He could still hear their pulses so he knew they were still alive.  
"Remind me to never piss you off." He said with feeling. Lucy smiled slightly at him.  
"Never do what they did, and never call her weak. That is something you just don't do." Laxus said, Cobra nodded.  
"Haven't thought that about her since she beat Angel all those years ago." He said, the others nodded. Wendy had run over to Lucy and was smiling up at her, and telling her how great she thought she was at that moment. Lucy just laughed and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. The thunder god tribe went over to the two girls. Lucy had sent Corvus back, but Serpens stayed in case she was needed. "Why do she react so strongly to being called weak? Sure, everyone would hate being called that but this is a bit overkill." Cobra asked Gajeel and Laxus. The two men looked at each other. Then Gajeel shrugged.  
"Not like he won't learn of it anyway." He said. Cobra was confused, they had somehow managed to shield their thought, so he had no idea of what was going on.  
"We will tell you after we have gotten the others out, they are first priority." Laxus said, Cobra nodded. The three of them went up to the rest.  
"Shall we continue?" Gajeel asked  
"Sure, I'm just gonna have Virgo tie up these guys." Lucy said and summoned Virgo and asked her to tie up the dark mages. Then they walked down to the basement of the building.  
"How long will they be out?" Freed asked Lucy, she thought for a second then said.  
"Between 1-2 hours, depending on how big they are." The others blinked  
"Nice, must have been a strong poison." Bixlow said  
"Not very, it's one of the weaker that Serpens has." Lucy said and shrugged. Then looked at Cobra. "Is there more dark mages here?" He shook his head. "Good." Was all Lucy said.  
They walked down and soon found the others, they hung on the wall and there were magic canceling ropes on them. Most of them were unconscious, but Jellal raised his head when they came down the stairs, it was dark and both his eyes was swollen so he couldn't see exactly who it was.  
"Cobra?" He asked hesitantly. That made the others look up, at least those who were conscious.  
"Yea, we are here to get you out of here." He said and walked up to Midnight who were closest and started removing the ropes so he could use magic again.  
"Who else?" Midnight asked, his voice weak.  
"Fairy Tail." Lucy said and walked up to Jellal and started removing the ropes on him as well. The others did the same.  
"You are, Lucy, Erza's friend, am I right?" He asked her, Lucy flinched.  
"Former friend if you ask me, and maybe her." she said  
"What happened?" He asked as he used his magic to destroy the cuffs that held him to the wall. Lucy had to catch him so he didn't fall to the ground.  
"Later. We need to get you guys out of here first. Serpens, can you carry them out?" She said and Serpens came up to them and she helped Jellal sit down on her back. Then she went to Meredy who was beside Jellal and helped her as well and after having gotten her lose she helped her to sit down on Serpens back as well. The others had done the same thing. All thinking it was a good thing Serpens was so big, or they would have had to carry some of them out.  
Cubellios (who never turned in to Kinana) was tied up as well, and was freed by Cobra. She had also been hurt so Cobra and Laxus had to carry her out.  
"We should hurry, before the dark mages comes back." Midnight said, the mages who had come to save them started to laugh.  
"You don't have to worry about them, they have been taken care of." Laxus said  
"How? We didn't hear any fighting." Racer said  
"Lucy took them out easily." Wendy said smiling up at the woman who smiled back, blushing slightly.  
"Their own fault for making me angry." She said, those who had seen what she did nodded. Then they walked up with Serpens slithering between them. When they came up did they see Virgo standing beside the tied up mages. She bowed to Lucy and left. Wendy used her magic to heal the worst of the others injuries before Lucy summoned Taurus and asked him to drag the dark mages back to town, which he gladly did for her sexy body. The others looked at her and she face palmed and the others started laughing. Then Jellal said.  
"We should contact Lahar and tell him the mages are caught." Laxus nodded and took out a comm. lacrima and did so, they decided to meet up just inside the forest.  
When the group arrived there a half hour later they saw a small group of Rune Knights. Lahar thanked them all and gave them the reward. After the Rune Knights had left Hoteye said.  
"And nearly the whole reward will be used up for the hospital fee." Then he sighed.  
"What are you talking about? I'm not done healing all of you, and don't you dare come and try to pay me for it. I'm glad to be able to help." Wendy said, they looked at her and smiled.  
"Thanks." They all said  
"So, where will you be staying for the next few days? You will need to take it easy after Wendy is done with the healing." Lucy said  
"Is it okay if I use the futon I used last night?" Cobra asked, Lucy smiled and nodded.  
"You don't happen to have more futons?" Midnight asked hopefully.  
"I have five all in all." Lucy said  
"If we put them together we could all stay there." Angel said with a bit of hope in her eyes, Lucy laughed.  
"Sure, I don't mind." She said, the others smiled at her.  
"Thanks. We appreciate this." Jellal said  
"No problem, I'm used to having people over nearly every day, or I was until a few months ago at least." She said, a slightly sad smile on her face.  
"Do this have anything to do with you and Erza being former friends?" Jellal asked  
"You can say that." Lucy said  
"'Can say that'? It's more like it's her fault, hers and the other two in Team Natsu." Laxus said with anger, the Crime Sorcière mages looked at him, then at Lucy and back again.  
"I'm not following." Razer said  
"Lets get to my place, then we can talk." Lucy said and started walking, Serpens who knew her master slithered up to her and after having shrunk down to a smaller size she slithered up Lucy's body and wrapped around her neck, Lucy stroked her head in thanks. It took them 20 minutes to reach the apartment since so many of them were hurt. After having unlocked the door they all went inside, Gajeel who was last closed it and locked it behind him, then they all sat down in the living room. Evergreen and Bixlow took out the rest of the futons so they could sit on them rather then the floor, then they looked at Lucy.  
"So, what happened?" Cobra asked, Cubellios had her head in his lap and he was stroking it absentmindedly. While they talked Wendy healed most of their remaining injuries, then sat down beside Gajeel.  
"Well..." Lucy started, then took a deep breath and continued. "It was about a month after the GMG that everything started, the others would go on missions now and then without telling me and they started talking less and less with me, so I went on solo missions of my own without telling them, and whenever I did they would get really pissed off and asking me what I thought I was doing. It usually ended with all of us screaming at each other. I couldn't see what the difference was, then I was told that I should just stop going on missions that demands fighting, since I was too weak to handle it, and that they just wanted to protect me, and that was why they left me behind to do missions. I, of course, went against it. And when I told them that I wouldn't stop going on missions they kicked me out of the team, hoping that would keep me from going on fighting missions. And whenever they talk to me nowadays it's only to tell me to stop acting strong and just admit I'm too weak to do fighting missions, and that I'm useless in a fight. So I stopped talking to them, since I refuse to listen to people who think so little of me, and over the last half year I have grown really strong and gotten a lot of new keys, as well as learned how to use one of the celestial spells that exist. They are hard to learn but I'm working on it." Lucy told them, they just gaped at her. At first they thought it was just a joke but then they saw the tears in her eyes.  
"How could she do that? I thought Erza was better then that." Jellal whispered  
"We all did, about all of them." Laxus said, the others nodded  
"Natsu always said that power didn't mater. It was the heart and what you do with what you have. And that nakama was the most important thing to him. But now, I just can't trust him anymore." Wendy said and curled up against Gajeel's side, he had an arm around her shoulders.  
"We all feel like that." He sighed. Then he looked at Cobra. "Does that answer your earlier question? The one about why she reacted so strongly to being called weak." He asked. Cobra nodded.  
"It explained more then that." He said, the others nodded.  
"Shall we sleep now? I know it's early still, but I'm tired." Angel said, looking at the clock Lucy had hanging on the wall and blushed slightly when she saw it was only 12.33pm.  
"I thought I would make food first, and then let you guys sleep." Lucy said, they smiled at her.  
"That sounds great." Hoteye said and the others nodded. So Lucy stood up and went in to the kitchen to fix something to eat. The others looked after her and the mages from Crime Sorcière saw that all the mages form Fairy Tail had love and carrying in their eyes, except for Wendy who was asleep against Gajeel's side, tired from all the healing she had done.  
"You guys have helped her a lot these last months haven't you?" Midnight asked, they nodded.  
"Ever since they started going on missions without her. We even took her on a few of our missions." Freed said as Gajeel stood up with Wendy in his arms and took her to Lucy's bed and put her down, spreading the comforter over her and then coming back to the others.  
"Bunny needed someone there, so we were, we and some of the others in the guild." Gajeel said  
"Do you have any idea of what caused it?" Razer asked  
"We have ideas, but no proof for any of it." Evergreen said  
"We think it can have something to do about future-Rouge killing future-Lucy during the eclipse thing, but we aren't sure." Bixlow said  
"Sounds possible." Jellal said, the others nodded.  
"I just hope we don't run in to them while we're in Magnolia." Meredy said, the others nodded. A few minutes later did Lucy come back.  
"Food is on the table, we can sit here and eat, but we have to get it in the kitchen." She said and they all stood up. Laxus moved to wake Wendy but Lucy said. "I will take her. You go eat. I know you are hungry." And as if to prove her point his stomach growled. He ruffled her hair and went to the kitchen while Lucy woke Wendy. Then they also went to get food.  
They sat on the futons eating in comfortable silence and when they were done did Lucy stand up to take care of the dishes but was stopped by Freed who said.  
"We will take the dishes. As thanks for the food." He smiled and he, Bixlow and Evergreen took the dirty plates and walked out to the kitchen.  
"Thanks you guys." She said after them, a smile on her face. Then she let herself relax.  
"Tired?" Cobra asked her  
"A bit. I used a lot of magic today, and even if Serpens barley use any magic when she is this small it's still a drain." She answered with a small smile  
"Do you wish me to return to the spirit world?" Serpens hisses in a kind voice. Lucy shook her head.  
"No, it's nice having you here. It is comforting." She smiled down at the serpent who lied in her lap. The serpent smiled back at her.  
"Why don't you go and lie down on your bed for an hour or two together with Wendy? These guys need to sleep as well. Me and Gajeel will help clean up in the kitchen." Laxus said, Lucy smiled at them and nodded. She stood up and dragged a half asleep Wendy to her bed then they both fell asleep with a murmured 'sleep well' to the others  
"Well then, let's fix the last in the kitchen. And you guys go sleep." Gajeel said and stood up, Laxus followed and together they walked in to the kitchen, the rest looked at each other then shrugged and made themselves comfortable on the futons.

What they didn't know was that someone would smell them there within the next half hour. Someone who didn't like it at all that they were there.

END OF CHAPTER 2


	3. Chapter 3 - A Rude Awakening & A Kick

Chapter 3 - A Rude Awakening & A Kick

Nobodys POV  
Natsu, Erza and Gray was walking down the road away from the guild, they were going on a short mission, and when they passed by Lucy's apartment did Natsu take a whiff like he always did, but this time he froze.  
"What is it?" Erza asked  
"What are _they_ doing at Lucy's?" He asked confused  
"Who?" Gray asked  
"Crime Sorcière and Oración Seis." Natsu growled. Erza's eyes widened.  
"Jellal would never come to Magnolia without telling me first." She said, then looked at the door up to Lucy's apartment.  
"He is there. Come on. Lets see what's going on." Natsu said  
"Yea, knowing Lucy she might get herself killed." Gray said and started towards the door.

~ Inside ~  
Gajeel, Laxus and his team was sitting in the kitchen talking when both dragon slayers tensed up and started towards the other room.  
"What is it?" Freed asked. Laxus was about to answer when the door flew off its hinges. All of the ones who was asleep woke up and got in to a battle position. There, in the ruined doorway stood the members of Team Natsu, all of them with shock on their faces.  
"What are you doing here?" Natsu asked and threw himself towards Cobra, but was stopped when a whip grabbed him and threw him backwards, Erza and Gray managed to catch him before he went out the door. The only ones who looked at the one who had used the whip were Erza, Gray and Natsu.  
And before they could say or do anything had Jellal, Meredy, Laxus and Gajeel moved between the former dark mages and the three Fairy Tail mages.  
Lucy got out of her bed and up to her friends, her whip in her hand, standing right in the middle of her former enemies. Wendy doing the same.  
"What do you think you are doing Lucy?" Erza asked  
"I'm protecting my guests from my _former_ team." She said, and put emphasis on former.  
"Guests? How can you welcome them in here?" Gray asked, but before Lucy could answer Erza said.  
"I thought you were better then hang out with the likes of _them_ , Jellal." And nodded towards the others.  
"And I thought you were better then to treat your nakama so badly." Jellal bit back. Erza jerked.  
"What are you talking about?" She asked  
"I'm talking about how you treated Lucy. She didn't deserve that kind of treatment. Not from you, not from anyone." He said  
"We only told her the truth." Gray said with anger  
"No you didn't. Lucy is all but weak." Midnight said to their surprise.  
"What do you know?" Natsu asked  
"We know that she took out an entire guild of assassins that we could do nothing against." Angel said with a proud and smug tone in her voice. She and Lucy had not seen eye to eye when it came to celestial spirits before and during their fight but she had changed after she had been defeated, and she had admired Lucy's strength ever since.  
"What?" All thee asked shocked  
"She took out a whole guild of assassins to save us just a few hours ago." Meredy said with a smirk. The three members of Team Natsu looked at them with their jaws hanging open.  
"Can you please leave now? Some of us need some sleep." Cobra said yawning and sat down, followed by his guild mates, except for Jellal and Meredy. Natsu shot him a dirty look.  
"And please repair the door you broke for no good reason while you leave. And I will report this to master. I refuse to have my home ruined like this again." Lucy said and sat down between Cobra and Midnight. Serpens around her neck. Cubellios moved so she was wrapped around Lucy as well, and Lucy stroked her back slowly.  
"How can you do this to us? And we will inform master that those people are here." Erza said, the members of Crime Sorcière flinched, except for Cobra.  
"You do that Titania. Gramps already know they are here." Laxus said with a smirk.  
"What? And he allows criminals to stay with the weakest member of the guild?" Natsu asked, now it was Lucy who flinched. Cobra and Midnight, who sat beside her, could feel her magic move.  
"Calm down Lucy. They don't know you anymore, so they are just ignorant of how strong you have become." Midnight said quickly  
"What they say means nothing. You only have to listen to people who know you." Cobra said a half second later, Lucy relaxed at their words.  
"Sorry." She said sheepishly, looking at the two men beside her.  
"It's okay. I can understand why you react like that." Midnight said, then lied down close beside her, close enough that he is touching her leg. "Now since there is no threat here, I will go back to sleep." He said and did so. He was asleep within a second. Everyone except for Team Natsu sweat dropped at how fast he fell asleep.  
"Why are you letting them stay here?" Natsu asked  
"Because they needed a place to sleep." Lucy explained  
"That doesn't explain what Meredy meant when she said you saved them." Erza said  
"And that has nothing to do with you." Jellal said. Then he looked at the others. "Come on, let's do as Midnight and sleep. We need it." The others nodded. Wendy sat down between Angel and Razer and her eyes was nearly closed. So when Angel grabbed her and pulled her down beside her, hugging her like as if she was a teddy bear, she just closed her eyes and fell asleep.  
"I'm not done talking to you." Natsu screamed, fire erupted on his hands.  
"Freed, can you put up runes so those idiots can't use magic? And then I would like it very much if you and Gajeel could throw them out, Laxus." Lucy said and lied down, snuggled between Midnight and Cobra and with the two snakes wrapped around her. Freed went right to work and created runes so the three in the doorway couldn't use magic in Lucy's apartment, which caused Natsu's flames to go out.  
"You heard her. Get out you three." Laxus said  
"No way, Lucy, you can't do this to us." Gray said, and before anyone could move Lucy was up and had him pined to the wall behind him, a key to his throat.  
"Me do this to you? Like how you told me that I was too weak to go on missions?" She hissed, Erza moved to drag her of off Gray but was stopped by Cubellios and when Natsu moved forward he was stopped by Serpens, who grew bigger. Both snakes hisses at them, poison visible on their fangs.  
"But Lucy. We just wanted to keep you safe." Gray said  
"I am safe. More safe now then I ever was with you three. Or didn't you realize that half the time I was hurt because you three didn't look where you sent your attacks? I have grown stronger over the past half year. I don't need some _boy_ to look out for me." She hissed at him, saying the word boy like it was an insult. "Now get out." She said and moved away from him. The two snakes moved with her. Then she sat down between Cobra, who had sat up again, and a still sleeping Midnight. Laxus moved and grabbed Erza and Natsu and Gajeel took Gray and threw them out the door. Then Freed started making runes to prevent them from entering again without permission. Lucy looked at the damaged door and sighed. Cobra put a hand on her shoulder.  
"We will pay to fix the door, since it is sort of our fault they broke it." He said and the others nodded. Lucy smiled at them.  
"Thanks guys." She said  
"Now go back to sleep. You can sleep for two hours more, then we should get to the guild and talk to gramps." Laxus said and they nodded. And a few minutes later were all of them asleep.

Time skip ~ two hours later, on their way to the guild ~ Cobra POV  
As we walked to the Fairy Tail guild I looked at Lucy, she seemed alright, but I could feel that she had mixed feelings about going to the guild. Laxus and Gajeel opened the big doors and everyone inside turned to look at us, some were just confused and some were hostile.  
 _Why are they here?  
Shouldn't they be in prison?_  
And similar thoughts came from all around me, I ignored them as we walked over to where Fairy Tails Master sat on the bar.  
"Hello children. How are you feeling?" He asked us with a kind smile, I blinked.  
"We are alright. Thanks to these people, they really saved us." Jellal said  
"I'm happy to hear that. I hope they did the job well." He said, Jellal nodded.  
"Lucy was the one who did most of it. Apparently they managed to anger her, so she took them all out in a very short time." Jellal explained. The master smiled at us.  
"Good." He said with a pleased smile and indicated for us to sit down at a table nearby, we did, and he came and sat down with us.  
After that he asked us how we had been doing and how our lives had been. And he listened to all of us. I heard him think that he was glad we were alright and that we were doing fine. I will never be wise on these people.

~ Time skip ~ after a few hours of talking ~ Nobodys POV  
They were still talking when Team Natsu came in, and seeing the guests they flipped.  
"Why are you acting as if nothing is wrong?" Natsu shouted  
"What is wrong?" Mira asked as she put down some glasses on the table between Angel and Meredy.  
"Them! How can you let them in here? They are dark guild mages." He said, pointing to Cobra and the others, anger in his voice.  
"Former! There is a difference." Lucy said  
"No there isn't." Gray said. "They are still evil."  
"Yes there is." Lucy said. "How can you speak like that? As if people can't change." She asked.  
"But Luce." Natsu wined, looking at her with hurt eyes.  
"No, Natsu." Lucy said. A heavy silence followed. Everyone looked from Lucy to her former team and back again.  
Lucy didn't look away from them and neither did they.  
"Why are you so hostile towards them?" Jellal asked  
"They are evil." Erza said  
"Were." Lucy said  
"Once evil always evil." Erza spat, Jellal's eyes widened before he looked away with a hurt look in his eyes.  
"That means you believe that Jellal is evil as well." Lucy said and stood up, moving so she stood between her friends and her former team. Erza looked at her.  
"That's different." She said  
"How is that different?" Lucy asked her  
"Well, he... It just is." Erza said irritated  
"Just admit it, you can't stand the thought of someone speaking ill of the man you like, but it's okay for you to talk shit about his friends and teammates. You are just a stupid common born hypocrite." Lucy said, anger in her voice. Erza just gaped at her, and so did most of the guild, no one talked like that to _the_ Erza, then they heard a giggle from the bar and when they looked they saw Lisanna standing there with a hand over her mouth.  
"What? Didn't you see Erza's face? She looked like someone had slapped her." She said and shrugged, still smiling.  
"How dare you speak like that to me?" Erza asked with anger, a sword appeared in her hand.  
"Oh, see. What did I say? Stupid. You always use violence to solve something, you never use your head, and as everyone know, only idiots resolve to violence first, rather then brain." Lucy said with a frosty voice and a equally frosty smile. Erza just stared at her. "What? Did you think I was afraid of you? As if I would be afraid of someone who only knows how to bash someones head in." She said  
"Why you!" Erza screamed and threw herself at Lucy, no one moved, and when Erza was just a meter away did Lucy shift her wight and her foot shot out a half second later. Catching Erza right in the chest and sending her backwards and over the heads of her teammates, she landed with a loud crash on a table on the other side of the guild and the table broke.  
"Now, can you guys leave us alone? We were having a wonderful conversation before you interrupted us." Lucy said with a bored tone, looking at the two boys who gaped at her. "I will take that as a yes." She said and moved to sit down again. She smiled when everyone at her table burst out in laughter. Evergreen, Meredy and Angel nearly fell off there chairs and Midnight did fall off his chair, clutching his sides and trying not to choke on his own laughter. The others also held their sides. Behind the bar Lisanna and Mira were also laughing, supporting themselves on the counter so they wouldn't fall to the floor.  
The three members of Team Natsu just stared at Lucy. The girl they had thought of as weak had just kicked Erza, a mage who nearly everyone was afraid of, straight across the guild and wasn't even faced by her anger.

Gray POV  
I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed, Lucy had taken Erza down in one move, not even me and Flame brain can do that, even if we worked together.  
 _How strong has she become while I wasn't looking?_ I thought. _And how did this happen? Lucy wasn't supposed to react like this. I thought she would welcome the break from our destructiveness and go on peacefully missions for a while, not completely shut us out of her live and go on even more dangerous missions and this time alone._ I tried to wrap my mind around how all this had happened and what I could do to fix this. I needed some quiet time away from the guild. I turned, and left.

Erza POV  
 _How dare she say that to me? As if I am a nobody. I am Titania no Erza, Fairy Tails strongest female mage._ I thought in anger as I sat up among the ruins of the table where I had landed. I looked around at the broken peaces and frowned. My chest hurt and I looked down only to see that she had managed to leave a decent sized dent in the chest aria of my armor. My eyes widened. _No way. How did she do that? All my armors are made to resist physical attacks. Not even that wyvern that managed to hit me with its tail a couple of years ago managed to dent this armor. So how did Lucy manage to dent it? She can't have more power in her kick then a wyvern has in its tail, can she?_ I thought in horror and looked up at Lucy just in time to see Gray turn and leave, Juvia not far behind. I looked at Lucy and saw her sitting at her table laughing with the others, Jellal on one side and Midnight, who was on the floor, on the other. They were laughing hard, and it wasn't hard to guess at what. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. _How can they do this to me? I thought Jellal cared about me, and Lucy is like a sister. I just wanted her to be safe, that's why I agreed to kick her out, so she wouldn't go on so many dangerous missions and get hurt. But it had all backfired, she no longer talked to me, or the boys, like she did before. It's as if we are her enemies, instead of the people who now sit around her._ I saw her extend her hand to Midnight who were trying to stand up and I wanted to scream at her to stay away from him, that he was dangerous, but then I saw the smile on his face as he took her hand and pulled himself up with Lucy's help. Somewhere along the line everything went wrong and I needed to figure out what. And to do that I needed calm and peace. I stood up and turned towards the door and left without turning to look back.

Natsu POV  
At first I just stood there, gaping, not believing what I had just seen. Luce had kicked Erza. And not just any kick, she had kicked her straight access the guild hall, and she had done it with little effort. Then I snapped out of it. Luce was stronger then I thought, now that she isn't so weak she can come back to the team. I opened my mouth to tell her so when Cobra said.  
"Have you thought about joining an other team now that you are off your old team for good?" I looked at them.  
 _No way, she can't mean that she will never come back to our team._ I thought and looked around only to see that both the Popsicle and Erza was missing. I turned back when I heard Luce say.  
"No, I think I will stay a solo mage. I like it. It's calm. And I don't have to worry about someone else destroying things. It's just me and my spirits." She smiled  
"And occasionally us." Laxus said, Luce smiled  
"Yea, I like going on the occasional mission with you guys, as well as Gajeel and Team Shadow Gear. It's fun." She said with a smile.  
 _No, it can't be. She can't have gone with them. What if she had been in danger, and I hadn't been there to protect her._ I thought, but then I remembered how she had kicked Erza and my blood boiled. I wanted to fight her. To see how strong she has become. I opened my mouth to challenge her.  
"Save it, Salamander. She will just kick your ass if you challenge her now." Cobra said with a smirk. I glared at him.  
"Tell me you didn't just think of challenging Lucy just because she kicked Erza." Laxus said  
"So what if I did. If she is so strong then she have to prove it. And if she has gotten stronger then I will let her back in to the team." I said, hundred percent sure that she would accept just so she could get back in the team.  
"No thank you. I'm happy being a solo mage." Luce said  
"What? But you love our team." I shouted at her.  
"I did. That is, until you and the others decided that I was too weak to go with you on missions. If you think I would come back to a team of backstabbers like you, then you truly are an ash brain. Because I will never come back to you guys." She said, her voice cold. My face heated up. I lit my fist on fire and threw myself at her but was stropped when my clothes wrapped around me and bound me tight. I hit the floor, hard.

Nobodys POV  
Everyone looked in shock at Natsu. They didn't understand what had happened to him.  
"Did you really think I would let you attack her, just like that?" Midnight asked him  
"Let me go you weak idiot." Natsu screamed, Lucy burst out in laughter at that.  
"You are the one who is stuck in his magic, so I would say you are the weak one, and since you can't even understand that it would make you the idiot." She said between laughter. Some of the others in the guild could feel their mouths twitch in a smile at that. Lucy was right after all.  
"Stop laughing at me!" Natsu roars, Lucy stood up and walked over to him.  
"If you promise not to attack me again like that maybe I will ask Midnight to let you go. I don't like being attacked out of the blue like that in a place that I should be able to feel safe at, just like how I don't like it when you and the others destroy my door and just bursts in to my home, like you did a few hours ago." Lucy said in a soft voice, and despite the softness it made every person in the room shiver. Because for all its softness you couldn't miss the underlying threat of pain.  
"Just fight me already!" Natsu screamed, trying to break Midnights hold on his clothes.  
"No. Not interested. I'm not some fighting maniac who only cares about showing off. I prefer using my brain more then muscle." She said and walked back to her seat.  
"Speaking of that. I'm starting to get hungry." Cobra said, everyone looked at him.  
"How does that fit in to anything we have said?" Jellal asked, slightly confused, Cobra shrugged.  
"I don't know, but I'm still starting to get hungry." He said, Gajeel nodded as if Cobras Logic was perfectly normal.  
"Same here. What about the rest of you?" He said, they nodded.  
"Where shall we go eat?" Angel asked, they all looked at Lucy.  
"Fine, if you want me to, I can cook dinner for all of you." She said with a smile. The others smiled back.  
"Thanks. You are a great cook. I'm looking forward to see what you make this time." Jellal said, Lucy blushed slightly.  
"Thanks. Well, if I'm going to cook for all of you then I better get to the market and get the things I need and then get home and start cooking." She said and stood up.  
"Need any help with carrying the things?" Laxus asked  
"Sure." Lucy said, and Laxus stood up, followed by the rest of their group.  
"We need to find someone who can fix your door as well." Jellal said  
"I know of a guy who can help." Freed said. "I can show you to him, if you want me to." Jellal nodded.  
"See ya all at my place later then." Lucy said and left with Gajeel, Laxus and his team, minus Freed, in toe. The others left as well, so they could find a good door for Lucy.

END OF CHAPTER 3


	4. Chapter 4 - A Mission With Tigers

Chapter 4 - A Mission With Tigers

Nobodys POV  
The story about how Lucy had kicked Erza spread like wild fire through the country and soon requests for her personally started coming in, Lucy was very happy over this and completed mission after mission, sometimes alone and sometimes with her friends.  
She was now sitting on the train towards her next mission. She looked down at the request again and reread it.

 _*Mission : Find a group of kidnapped children and get them back,  
They were kidnapped from their school by a group of dark mages.  
Reward : 8.000.000J + two celestial keys  
Requested mage : Lucy Heartfilia*_

Lucy bit her lip, she would have wanted at least one more with her on this mission, this could turn out to be very dangerous. She looked out the window and saw that the train was at an other station, one they would be on for a few minutes extra.  
 _Just an hour left until it's my stop._ She thought. Suddenly the door to her compartment banged open.  
"I knew I recognized your scent." The blond man who stood there said.  
"Sting? What are you doing here?" Lucy asked surprised.  
"Hey, Rouge, we can sit here." Sting shouted over his shoulder. And shortly after did Rouge come in, Lector and Frosch following, he saw Lucy and bowed slightly.  
"I apologize for my partner. We won't intrude if you do not wish us here." He said, Lucy just smiled at him.  
"It's okay, please sit down. The train will start to move soon." That made Rouge sit down quickly.  
"So, why are you here, Blondie?" Sting asked from his place opposite her.  
"A mission, what else?" Lucy said  
"Any fun?" He asked  
"Rescue a group of children that have been kidnapped." Lucy explained  
"Don't sound that fun." Sting said  
"Can I see the request?" Rouge asked politely from where he sat beside her, Lucy nodded and gave it to him. He read it and then looked up at her.  
"They requested you personally? That is a major thing." He said, Sting sat up straight.  
"You have people who request you personally?" He asked  
"Yea, it's been like this since shortly after I kicked Erza straight across the guild. Apparently the whole country have heard about that." Lucy said with a small smile.  
"So it's true? You really did kick _the_ Erza?" Sting asked, Lucy nodded.  
"She attacked me and I defended myself." She said  
"I thought you two were friends." Rouge said  
"We were, until she and the others in the team decided I was too weak to go on fighting missions, so to prevent me from doing so they kicked me off the team. I ignored them and went on my own missions, and here I am now." She explained, the two tigers just gaped at her.  
"Damn Blondie. That's harsh." Sting said, Lucy nodded.  
"I will survive. I just wish one of my friends had been in the guild today. I could have used the help on this mission." Lucy said as Rouge gave the mission sheet back to her.  
"Fro likes Fairy-san. She is kind and have a warm smile." Frosch said and walked over to her and sat in her lap, Lucy smiled down at him. The others just gaped at Frosch. He didn't trust others easily, and here he was, sitting in the lap of someone who is nearly a complete stranger.  
"Thanks, I like you too, Frosch." Lucy said and petted his head. He smiled up at her.  
"Will Fairy-san be okay on that mission?" He asked  
"I will, somehow." Lucy smiled at him. Sting and Rouge looked at each other then nodded.  
"We can help you if you want us to." Sting said, all teasing gone from his voice. He had a feeling that mission could go both ways, either very bad in the blink of an eye, or, be kinda easy.  
"You sure? I don't want to cause trouble for you guys." Lucy said  
"It would be our pleasure to help you out." Rouge said, Lucy gave them a bright smile and they blushed slightly.  
"Thanks you two. I really appreciate this." She said  
"No prob..." Sting started but closed his mouth as the train started moving and his face turned green. Rouge was as bad as Sting. Lucy gave them a small smile of pity. At least they had less then an hour to their stop.

When they arrived the two dragon slayers walked quickly of the train, even if Rouge did so with more dignity then Sting. Lucy smiled at them.  
"Come on, it's this way." She said and led them to the clients place. The client, or clients, were the parents of the children that had been taken. They were surprised to see the dragon duo with Lucy, since they had requested her and not someone from Sabertooth. But Lucy quickly soothed them by telling them that the two was her friends and that they had promised to help get the children back. They got the information that they needed, even if it wasn't much. They then left to go track the children down.  
"Aren't you glad that we came with you now? Since they don't know where the children are, and you will have to track them?" Sting asked a bit smug. Lucy just smiled sweetly and took out one of her keys and said.  
"Open gate of the Dragon! Draconis!" Both slayers blinked. And then a small dragon appeared before them.  
"Hello, Lucy-Hime." The dragon said  
"Hello, Draconis. Do you think you can help me track down a group of children? They have been kidnapped." Lucy asked with a smile.  
"It would be my pleasure." Draconis said  
"Since when do you have the dragon key, and why is he so small?" Sting asked, Lucy shrugged.  
"Laxus gave me her key after he got it from a request a few months ago. I have a few other new as well. And she is small because that takes less magic then when she is in her full size form, plus, no people will panic if they see her like that, compared to if she had been her full size. And Draconis is female, not male." Lucy smiled at him, the two slayers nodded.  
"What other keys do you have?" Sting asked with an 'aha' look on his face when she explained about Draconis size.  
"You will have to wait and see." Lucy smiled  
"Fine." Sting said with a slight pout  
"What would your fans say if they saw you pouting like a little kid?" Lucy asked with a laugh, Sting gave her a mock glare.  
"They would think I was the best pouter ever." He said with a self mocking voice. Lucy laughed.  
"If you say so." She said  
"Lucy-Hime, I have found something." Draconis said as she came back to them. The slayers jumped, they hadn't notice her leave.  
"Thanks, Draconis. Will you show us the way?" Lucy asked, she nodded her head.  
"This way." She said and flew off. The others ran after her. They ran for a few minutes until they came to the abandoned part of the town. There they slowed down and walked carefully through the streets.  
"Be careful so you don't destroy things while we fight later." Lucy said in a low voice. The two men nodded. They had picked up the smell of 18 children and 4 adults. When they came to a warehouse they stopped.  
"Draconis, can you go back for now? I will summon you later to fight if you want to." She said, Draconis nodded.  
"Use one of your other spirits for that, you know I don't like fighting much, and the children might be scared of me." She said, Lucy nodded as she left.  
"What now?" Rouge asked  
"Lets just go inside and fight them." Sting said  
"And put the children at risk?" Lucy asked. "No, I have a better idea." She said and took out Virgo and Corvus keys and summoned them. And explained her plan. Corvus would darken the whole room the children were in, and then Virgo would dig a tunnel under them and take them out of there and then close the tunnel before Corvus removed the darkness, then the three mages would go in and take out the kidnappers. Rouge gave her a small smile and a nod. Lucy smiled back. Then her spirits left to do their work.  
"Someone is coming." Sting said, and they ran to the side and hid around the corner, they heard someone open the door then how it closed, the slayers heard someone say that no one were there. Shortly after they heard shouts from the inside, then Virgo appeared beside them. The children not far behind her. They stared wide eyed at Lucy. She put a finger to her lips to keep them quiet. Virgo had closed the tunnel as soon as everyone were outside.  
"Lets go, so none of them manages to get away." Rouge said and ran off. Sting and Lucy not far behind, Lector and Frosch flying above their heads. Corvus had gone back to the spirit world, but Virgo would stay and keep the children safe. As they came inside they saw the kidnappers in a slight panic.  
"Hello, lost something?" Lucy asked, they turned to her.  
"You bitch. What did you do?" One of them asked  
"Where did you take the children?" An other asked  
"They are safe." Lucy smiled.  
"Damn you, you bitch." One shouted. After that they attacked. One of them were a requip mage and Lucy took him on. Sting were up against a water mage, Rouge was up against a gun mage and the last had to deal with Loki, who were none to pleased when he heard they had kidnapped children.

~ with Sting ~  
Sting used a 'White Dragons Punch' and took his opponent out after having dodged an attack, then he looked around and saw Lucy's fight, he had to stifle a laugh as he walked over to the mage and tied him up with magic canceling ropes Virgo had given them. Then he sat down on his captive to watch Lucy's fight. Lector on his shoulder.

~ with Rouge ~  
Rouge turned in to shadow to dodge the bullets aimed at him, then he got up behind his opponent and used a 'Shadow Dragons Claw' and took his opponent down. After he had tied him up he looked around at the others, Sting were sitting and watching Lucy fight and Loki had already finished his own fight, and was also watching Lucy's fight. So Rouge did as them and watched Lucy. He smirked slightly when he saw her. Frosch sat on his head.

~ with Loki ~  
Loki didn't even give his opponent a chance to show what kind of magic he used before he used his 'Regulus Punch' and took him out. He tied the man up and looked at his master to make sure she was okay, and he smiled, she was doing just fine.

~ with Lucy ~  
The requip mage she was facing was not even half as good or fast as Erza. She smirked.

 _This will be easy._ She thought as the man attacked again and again and easily she dodged, never letting the swords even scratch her. Her opponent sneered at her and said.  
"Not so tough now, are you?"  
"You are slow, and weak, at least compare to my former teammate. Titania no Erza." Lucy mocked with a smirk, the mans eyes bulged out.  
"You are from Fairy Tail." He said and attacked with more fear then skill controlling his movements. Trying to take her down before she got him.  
"Yep, I am, and so is my spirit, but the blond and black haired ones are the twin dragons of Sabertooth." Lucy smiled evilly as she dodged an other swipe of the mans sword. He paled and looked over to where his friends fought and saw them already defeated and tied up. His moment of inattention cost him the fight. Lucy, who saw where his attention were, moved fast and kicked him in the side of the head and sent him in to the wall where he slid to the floor, unconscious. She smirked and walked over to him and tied him up.  
"Nice kick, Blondie." Sting said  
"Thanks, that was less power then I used on Erza when I kicked her, but it was enough." She said with a smile.  
"Now I know what Gajeel meant when he said you had a deadly kick." Rouge said  
"Yea, I kicked him a couple of months ago when we trained and he nearly passed out." Lucy smiled  
"Damn, Blondie. You have become really strong." Sting said with a smile.  
"Thanks, now, lets get these scumbags to the police." Lucy said, the men nodded. Loki took the guy Lucy had kicked out as well. When they came out they met the children and Virgo.  
"Are you okay, Hime?" Virgo asked  
"I'm fine. How are the children?" Lucy said  
"They are unhurt." Virgo said  
"Good, do you know why they took you?" She asked the children. One of them took a step forward and said.  
"They said that they would sell us as slaves." That made all of them angry.  
"It was good we came with you, so that this was solved fast." Rouge said, Lucy nodded.  
"Do you want to go back home to your parents now?" She asked the children, they nodded with smiles. Virgo came with them since two of the children refused to let go of her hands. Two ran up to Lucy and took her hands while one ran up to Sting and one to Rouge and took their free hands. They blinked, not used to things like this. Lucy smiled at them as they walked to the police and gave the kidnappers over to them, then took the children to their parents. They were overly happy to see their children again and thanked the mages for their help over and over again. The mages told them every time that they were glad to help. Then they gave Lucy the money, and she gave 2.000.000 to the guys each. And as they left they waved bye to the children and their parents.  
"If we ever need help again we will request you three." One of the fathers shouted after them. That made the mages smile.  
"Thank you." Lucy shouted back. Then they left and looked around.  
"It's late already. Shall we stay a night here or go back to our guilds?" Sting asked  
"I'm going to contract my new spirits, then look for an inn. I'm tired." Lucy said  
"Can we come with you?" Sting asked, Lucy hesitated, then nodded.  
"Come on." She said and walked towards the outskirts of town. On the way she looked over the keys, then a huge smile appeared on her face and she jumped up and down.  
"The keys any good?" Rouge asked, Lucy nodded.  
"This is Canis Venatici, the hunting dog, and this red key is a Hell key and if I remember correctly it's Asmodeus." She smiled, the guys looked confused.  
"Hell key? I have never heard of them." Rouge said  
"Not many have, not even among celestial mages. The Hell keys are also called the Seven Princes of Hell or the Seven Deadly Sins." Lucy explained  
"Why don't many know of them?" Sting asked  
"They are seen as legends, just like a couple of other sets of keys." Lucy smiled  
"Not bad. I wonder what Yukino would say if she knew you had one of the legendary keys." Sting said  
"I have two of them now actually. I also have one of the keys from the Chinese zodiac, the green keys." Lucy laughed  
"Damn, that's crazy." Rouge murmured, Lucy nodded.  
"Hey, why don't you come with us and show Yukino the keys? I'm sure she would be happy to see them, and you too for that matter." Sting said  
"You think it would be okay? I'm a fairy after all." Lucy said  
"It will be okay. We have a new master and both Minerva and Jiemma are gone." He said, Lucy smiled.  
"Than I would love to come visit." She said, the others smiled at her and they left to contract her newest spirits.

END OF CHAPTER 4


	5. Chapter 5 - Demons & Spirits

Chapter 5 - Demons & Spirits

Nobodys POV  
They came to the outskirts of town and Lucy walked a bit away from the two men and took out Canis Venatici's key first and summoned him.  
"I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits! Now! O Spirit, answer my call and pass through the Gate! Gate of the Hunting Dog! I open thee! Canis Venatici!" Lucy said with a powerful voice. And in a shimmer of golden sparkles and a loud threatening howl did two large Siberian Huskies appear before her. Sting and Rouge looked on in amazement. The power they felt from Lucy was much greater then what they had ever felt from Yukino. They looked on as Lucy made a contract with the two dogs. Afterward she looked at them and smiled. "What do you think?" She asked the two.  
"That was fantastic, I could feel how much power you used, and it was a great deal." Sting said and Rouge nodded.  
"Well, I am summoning them from an other world, and that takes more magic then most realize." She said, the men nodded.  
"I have felt how much power Yukino have, but that's a lot less then you have." Rouge said  
"I have spent the last half year training to get stronger, and Yukino don't seem like the type to put herself through too much trouble just to get stronger." Lucy said  
"True, she hates training, of any type." Rouge nodded.  
"Can you summon that hell spirit now? I want to see how strong it is." Sting said, Lucy nodded.  
"The correct term form them are demons, not spirits." Lucy said, the guys nodded. Then Lucy took the red key and said in a powerful voice. "I am linked to the path to the world of Hell Demons! Now! O Demon, answer my call and pass thru the Gate! Gate of the Lustful Demon! I open thee! Asmodeus!" The power she used stunned the guys, it was much more then when she had summoned the hunting dog. And as she finished a dark red pile of smoke appeared and when it disappeared a very handsome man stood in front of them. He had platinum blond hair that reached his mid back, eyes as blue as sapphires and honey colored skin, he had a pair of tight black leather pants and a open dark red vest and a golden necklace with swirling symbols on. The three mages just stared at him, their mouths hanging open. Then he went down on one knee with a hand over his heart.  
"Master, it's an honor to meet you." He said in a voice like velvet. Lucy snapped out of it and smiled at him.  
"It's an honor to meet you as well. I'm Lucy Heartfilia, and please, I'm your friend not your master." She smiled at him and helped him stand up. He looked surprised.  
"You are the mage who has most of the celestial western zodiacs? The one who has even met the celestial king?" He asked, shock in his voice.  
"Yes, that's me." Lucy smiled at him. "Would you like to make a contract with me?" She asked, Asmodeus smiled at her.  
"It would be my honor." He said  
"Okay, is it the same as with celestial spirits or is your contract different?" Lucy asked curious.  
"It's a bit different. We both need to cut a snit in our right hands and then shake hands so that our blood mixes. The rules for a contract other then that is the same as celestial spirits, except that if you are killed in any way I and any other hell demon contracted to you will track down any and all who are responsible for your death and obliterate them." Asmodeus explained, Lucy nodded and smiled.  
"Then let's do this." She smiled at him. "Now I just need a knife or something the like." She said, Rouge pulled out his sword and handed it to her.  
"You can use this." He said, Lucy smiled at him.  
"Thanks." She said and turned back to the demon who nodded at her. Then they both took turns to slice their hands. Then Lucy handed back the sword to Rouge and turned to the demon who held out his hand, she took it and suddenly the both of them were surrounded by a dark light, Lucy could feel power coursing through her body. It was a strange feeling. Then as fast as it had come it disappeared.  
"Our contract is sealed. I'm looking forward to working with you, milady." Asmodeus smiled at her. She smiled back.  
"Same here. Now, can you tell me what your powers are and when you are available?" She asked and took out her notebook.  
"I'm free any time and any where. My powers are temptation magic and wind magic. And I have a so called sin form, and it is a fox." He explained. Lucy wrote it all down.  
"That's great." Lucy smiled  
"I will take my leave now, your magic is very low. I will see you later." He said and bowed and disappeared in a cloud of dark red smoke. Lucy staggered and would have fallen if Rouge and Sting hadn't caught her in time.  
"You okay, Blondie?" Sting asked  
"Yea, just tired. He used up a lot of magic." She said, the guys nodded.  
"Come on, let's go and find a hotel to sleep in tonight." Rouge said and lifted her up bridal stile. Lucy rested her head on his shoulder and blushed slightly. The two guys walked through town until they found a hotel where they could get a room with three beds. Rouge put Lucy down when they reached the doors to the hotel so she could walk inside on her own.  
The woman in the reception shot murderous glares at Lucy while flirting with the two men, but none of them were interested.  
"Anything else I can do for you?" She asked when she gave them their room key and let her eyes glide over their bodies. The hint was too obvious.  
"No thanks, we have all we need." Sting said and gave Lucy a look out of the corner of his eye. Lucy blushed and the woman behind the counter glared at her, and if looks could kill Lucy would have died right then and there.  
"I'm sure I can give you much more then that little girl can do." She said and looked Rouge in the eyes, trying to seduce him. He just shook his head.  
"We are not interested. We just want to sleep for the night and then head back to Sabertooth." He said in a monotone voice, the woman paled.  
"Y-you are from Sabertooth?" She stammered, looking from one to the other.  
"Yes, we are the twin dragons and this is Fairy Tails Lucy Heartfilia, one of the worlds strongest Celestial mages." Sting said and gave a shark like grin at her. She took a step back and paled even more.  
"Come on Sting, Rouge, I need a shower after the battle we just had with those dark mages. They were disgusting." Lucy said and started walking towards the stairs, the two slayers nodded and walked after her. The woman still in slight shock. As soon as they were in their room Lucy started laughing.  
"Her face when she realized who you guys were was hilarious." She said and smiled at them. They smiled back.  
"Being from a large guild has it's perks." Sting said  
"She looked just as scared when she learned who you are as when she learned who we are." Rouge said, Lucy nodded.  
"Well, I'm going to take a shower and then sleep." She sad and walked in to the bathroom.

Time skip ~ next day  
The three mages and two exceeds left the hotel and started towards Sabertooth. They talked until the train started to move and both slayers became green. Lucy just shook her head and looked out the window. An hour later they got to their stop, Sting and Rouge hurriedly got of the train. Then they walked to their guild. As they entered everyone looked up and was about to great them when they saw who was with them. All of them wondered why a fairy was there.  
"Lucy!" Yukino shouted and ran up to her and gave her a big hug. Lucy laughed and hugged her back. Then a woman in her late forties came over to them.  
"And who is this?" She asked with a motherly smile. Lucy smiled back at her, she already liked this woman, even if she suspected she could be a real demon if she needed to.  
"I'm Lucy Heartfilia, I'm a mage of Fairy Tail." She introduced herself and gave a slight bow. The woman smiled at her.  
"I'm Hana Reed. The new master of Sabertooth. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucy." She said  
"The same." Lucy said  
"How come you are visiting us?" Hana asked  
"I wanted to talk to Yukino about something I got yesterday." Lucy smiled, Yukino looked surprised.  
"Okay, then I will leave you two to talk. Have a nice stay with us." Hana smiled at her, Lucy smiled back.  
"I'm sure I will." She said, then she, Yukino and the two guys and their exceeds walked over to a table.  
"Before you tell me what you got I want to give these to you." Yukino said as they sat down and she handed Lucy her three keys, Lucy stared at her.  
"I can't take them from you, they are yours." Lucy said, but Yukino shook her head.  
"I have lost my magic. I had to give it up." She said, her voice weak.  
"What? What happened?" Lucy asked  
"It was my fault." A voice said behind them. They turns and saw Rufus standing there.  
"What do you mean?" Rouge asked  
"I got trapped under a huge pile of bricks and other things while the two of us was on a mission, and Yukino used up all her magic including the core of her magic to get me out of there, it saved my life but it cost her her magic. She can't get it back." He said after sitting down. The others was stunned.  
"I don't know what to say." Lucy said  
"Don't be sad for my sake, I would have done it again if I had been in the same situation, even knowing what the result would have been." Yukino said, Lucy smiled at her.  
"Okay, I will take care of your keys, but if you, somehow, ever get your magic back I will give them back to you." Lucy said, Yukino smiled at her and nodded.  
"So, what did you want to tell me?" She asked, Lucy smiled and took out two of her keys and showed them to Yukino who gasped.  
"These are... No... They can't be... A Chinese zodiac key and a Hell key?" She whispered, stunned. Lucy nodded.  
"Yea, this green key is the dragon of the Chinese zodiac and that red key is Asmodeus of the Hell keys." Lucy smiled  
"I can't believe they exist. I thought they were just legends." Yukino said  
"But all legends have a grain of truth in them." Lucy smiled, Yukino nodded.  
"True. How are they?" She asked  
"Well, the dragon is a female and she acts just like a crazy but kind mother, sort of, and really likes pasta of all things. And Asmodeus, he is, well, like a handsome gentleman who you get dangerous vibes from, and very protective." Lucy explained. Yukino nodded and smiled.  
"I hope I can meet them someday." She said  
"Maybe I will use them during the next GMG, you can see them then." Lucy smiled  
"Yea. I'm looking forward to seeing you fight." Yukino smiled  
"Speaking of that, will you stay in Sabertooth now when you have no magic or what will you do?" Lucy asked  
"I'm staying, Master gave me a job as bartender and I will help her with her paperwork now and then if she needs it." She smiled, Lucy smiled back. Glad that her friend would stay with the guild.  
They sat there talking for a couple of more hours before Lucy decided to head back to her own guild. The mages of Sabertooth wished her a nice trip and told her to come visit again soon. She smiled and said she would come by when she had the time.

When she came to Magnolia did she go to her usual place for first summonings and summoned her three newest spirits. They were glad they ended up with Lucy and thanked her when she told them that she would let them meet Yukino again if they wanted to.

As she came back to her guild she smiled. She loved her guild, as loud and ruckus as it was.  
She walked inside and was met with a chorus of 'welcome back'. She smiled and said.  
"I'm home." Then she walked up to the bar and asked Mira for a milkshake. Which she got.  
"How was your mission?" Mira asked her  
"It was fine, I got a bit of help from Sting and Rouge. And I got some new keys." Lucy smiled, but then her smile disappeared when she thought about the reason for three of the keys now being hers. Mira who had been about to squeal about blond and black haired babies looked at her and asked.  
"Did something happen?" Lucy nodded and took out her keyring and showed Mira her newest keys.  
"Yukino lost her magic a couple of days ago, so I have her keys now." Lucy said and put her keyring back on her belt, Miras eyes widened.  
"She lost her magic?" She asked in a stunned whisper. Lucy nodded. "How?"  
"She and Rufus were on a mission and Rufus got trapped under a huge pile of bricks and other things. He would have died if Yukino haven't used not only her magic but also the core of her magic." Lucy explained  
"She used up her magical core?" Mira asked, shocked.  
"Yea, and she said she would have done it even if she knew what that meant. She would rather lose her magic then watch a friend die." Lucy said, a small smile on her face, but there was pain in her voice.  
"She is brave and a true friend." Mira said, Lucy nodded.  
"Yea, she is." Lucy said and drank the last of her milkshake. "I'm going back home now, see you tomorrow." She said a while later and waved to her guild mates. They waved back.  
She summoned Plue as she walked out the doors and asked if he wanted to keep her company on her way home, he nodded and they walked of.  
She balanced on the side of the canal until she was outside her apartment, then she sent Plue back and walked in to her apartment.  
"I'm home." She said, not expecting an answer.  
"Hello, nice to see you again." A voice said and she screeched. "Ouch. That hurt." The same voice said. Lucy looked towards her couch and saw...  
"Cobra, what are you doing here?" She asked, Cubellios slithered over the floor and up her waist and bumped her head against Lucy's, Lucy smiled and petted her.  
"I was in the aria and needed a place to stay the night, so I thought I could stay here." He said, Lucy sighed and nodded.  
"Sure, just don't destroy anything." She said, he nodded.  
"Hey, how come I can't hear your thoughts anymore?" He asked, his voice showing how shocked he was, Lucy looked surprised.  
"You can't?" She asked, he shook his head. "Weird, I haven't done anything that would make you unable to do so." She said. A puff of dark red smoke followed her words.  
"That would be my doing, milady." Asmodeus said with a bow.  
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, just managing to keep from showing how shocked she was at his sudden appearance.  
"Me and the other Hell keys have the ability to shield our masters thoughts against anyone, just being contracted to one of us is enough." He said  
"Neat, can I lift the shield if I want someone to hear my thoughts?" She asked, he nodded.  
"Yes, milady, as you will notice if you check with your magic you will find a sort of barrier around your mind, and you can lift it with your will." He said, Lucy smiled at him.  
"Thanks." She said, he bowed and disappeared in a pile of smoke again. Cobra just gaped at where the man had stood.  
"Who was that?" He asked  
"That was one of my new keys, Asmodeus, a hell demon." Lucy smiled. "Want dinner?" She asked, he nodded. And Lucy walked to the kitchen, Cobra following.  
"Hell key? I have never heard of them before." He said, Lucy nodded.  
"Most people, including celestial mages, believe they are just stories or legends, something you tell your children about when they are to sleep." Lucy smiled  
"Telling stories about demons? Wouldn't that give them nightmares?" Cobra asked  
"No, all the stories I have heard about the Hell keys are really good, they are as good as their owners, just like celestial spirits. Mom told me this story about one of them, I think it was Leviathan, and it was about how he saved an entire town from a volcano eruption." Lucy smiled, Cobra nodded.  
"So, just like a mage can be both good and bad the spirits and demons are the same." He said, now it was Lucys turn to nod.  
"Yea. Celestial magic is the best." Lucy smiled.  
They continued to talk about different keys that existed and which she really wanted and which she already had.  
Lucy also told him about what she knew about Hell keys and their contracts.

Cobra POV  
 _She is kinda weird, but a good type of weird. And damn she knows how to cook, this is great._ I thought as I ate the food she had prepared. _Too bad I can't stay longer then tomorrow. Maybe I should get her something as thanks, she did help me when I was hurt and then helped save my guild mates after all._ I smiled inwardly at this. _A new key would probably be the best gift to her, she sound like she really want as many as possible, without hunting down other mages that have them. She is too kind sometimes._  
We sat there talking until it was late, then we went to bed. She had sat up the futon for me again and I thanked her, she just nodded and smiled.

~ next morning ~ Nobodys POV  
After breakfast the two mages left in their own directions, Cobra to find his guild mates and hunt down some escaped criminals that wanted to see Zeref back in power and Lucy to go to the guild.

~ with Lucy ~  
She walked in to the guild and was nearly hit in the face by a table, luckily she managed to dodge it, instead it hit Erza who had come in just behind her. Lucy barley glanced at her and walked up to the mission board to see if she could find a good mission she could do alone. She didn't care as much about the mission in itself, it was the reward that was important. She wanted to save up more jewels so she could rent a bigger apartment or maybe even buy a house. The one she have now is starting to get a bit cramped with all the books she has gotten. Not to mention that she often had friends over, especially Evergreen ended up staying over a lot after their sweet days as they called them, they ate homemade cakes and drank a little bit of alcohol while talking about anything that came to mind. She found a mission and smiled.

 _*Mission : slay a wyvern that's terrorizing a town  
Where : Lupinus Town  
Reward : 100.000J *_

Lucy smiled and pulled it down. When she turned from the board she saw that the brawl had been stopped by Erza. She just rolled her eyes and went up to Mira to have her stamp it.  
"Lucy, I was wondering, would you mind some company on this mission?" Mira asked, biting her lip.  
"Depends who you wish to come with me." Lucy said  
"Me, I need to get out from here for a day or two, mind if I tag along?" She asked, Lucy smiled.  
"Not one bit. When can you leave?" She asked, Mira looked relieved.  
"I just have to tell Lisanna and Elfman so they will know I won't be here for a couple of days." She said and walked over to her siblings and told them she would be leaving for a couple of days, and Lisanna promised she would take care of everything behind the bar. After that the two of them left, they stopped a few minutes at Miras and her siblings place so she could get a bag with some clothes, then they left for Lupinus Town.  
As they sat down on the train Lucy asked.  
"How come you needed to get out of there for a couple of days?" Mira looked down at her hands and said  
"I had a fight with Freed yesterday evening, we haven't told anyone this but we have been dating for a few months now, and yesterday I asked him a question but he misunderstood it and thought I believed he was cheating on me, I just wanted to know if he had any special plans for our six months day, I wanted to take him out to eat, but now I'm not even sure we are still together." She said and put her hands in front of her face with a sob. Lucy went over and hugged her.  
"It will be fine, I promise, and if he won't talk to you then I will talk to him, and I will make him listen, whether he want to or not, even if I have to blackmail him, or get Laxus to help, even if I have to blackmail him as well." Lucy said  
"You have blackmail material on both of them?" Mira asked looking at her, Lucy nodded.  
"Gemini, my twin spirit, has the ability to scan a persons thoughts and memories as well as copy how they look, so I can just tell those two that I will have Gemini turn in to them and then tell the whole guild about their most embarrassing thing in their lives." Lucy smiled, Mira laughed.  
"Thanks, I will try to talk to him when we get back. I really like him and don't want to lose him over a misunderstanding." Mira smiled, Lucy nodded and went back to her own seat.  
"I hope it works out for you two, you look really good together." Lucy smiled, Mira blushed.  
"Thanks, and while we are on the subject. Is there anyone you like?" She asked, Lucy just laughed  
"Not at the moment. I have too much going on in my life as it is, especially with how my ex-team is acting." Lucy said, Mira frowned when Lucy mentioned her former team.  
"I can't believe them, how can they act like that?" Mira asked  
"I don't know, but three good things that has come of it is that, one, I have grown stronger, both magically and physically, and two, I have gotten more keys since I can take the missions I want to without worrying about the others complaining that it's boring or destroying so much we lose the reward, and three I have been able to save up more jewels since they aren't there to destroy things." Lucy smile, Mira smiled at that as well.  
"Well, that's some good at least. But still, to claim you aren't strong enough is ridiculous, you are strong and everyone in the guild knows that." Mira said  
"Thanks, Mira." Lucy said  
"You said you have gotten new keys, which ones do you have now?" She asked, and the two women started talking about the keys Lucy now had.

They stepped of in Lupinus Town and went to talk with the client.

~ with Crime Sorcerer ~  
They walked thru the thick forest towards the escaped prisoners camp. When they arrived they worked fast in taking out the mages but one turned out to be very good at dodging, then he pulled out a red key and said.  
"Open gate of the Greedy Demon! Mammon!" Cobra froze, that was one of the hell keys Lucy had talked about. He turned towards the mage after having taken out the one he had been fighting. Mammon was as handsome as Asmodeus and had blond hair, brown eyes and pale skin, he had on a pair of lose red pants and an open white vest. Around the right wrist was a golden bracelet with tribal symbols on.  
"What kind of spirit is that?" Angel asked  
"It's one of the seven Hell keys, a demon." Cobra said  
"Oh, someone other then me that knows of their existence. I will have to kill you so you can't spread the knowledge." The mage said "Mammon, kill him." He said and the demon ran at Cobra who dodged. Then aimed a roar at the mage, he didn't manage to dodge it completely and fell to the ground, nearly completely paralyzed.  
"You used deadly poison on my master." Mammon said, his voice empty.  
"No, he isn't dead, and the strength of the poison won't kill him, so you have no reason to obliterate me, or my guild mates." Cobra said  
"How did you know about that part of the contract?" The mage asked, his voice strained.  
"I know a celestial mage who is much more powerful then you." Cobra said  
"Why you!" He seethed, and pulled a gun out and shot towards Cobra. The shot went right through Mammon and missed Cobra with just an inch. Mammon disappeared in a pile of smoke, but not before he saw the anger and shock in Cobras eyes and heard Angel shout.  
"You bastard, how could you?" And saw her run towards his master, anger on her face. Then he disappeared.  
Angel kicked the mage.  
"What? He is just a weapon for me to do as I wish with." He said  
"I thought so as well, before I realized the truth. Be glad I don't kill anymore or I would have killed you right here and now for what you just did." She said  
"Come on. Let's get these to the police." Jellal said, Angel took the red key from the mage and said to Cobra.  
"Do you know if the contract with a Hell key is the same as a celestial or if its different?"  
"There is some differences, but when a mage losses a fight the contract is broken if the key is taken from him." Cobra said, Angel nodded.  
"Good." She said  
"Give it back!" The mage shouted  
"No way, this one is going to be a thank you present to someone who saved our lives a while back." Angel smiled, the rest of her guild mates smiled as well.  
"That was my idea as well." Cobra said and nodded.  
"We really owe her for what she did." Jellal said, the others nodded and they started dragging the mages to the closest town.

~ with Lucy and Mira ~  
"That was pretty easy." Mira smiled, Lucy nodded.  
"Yea, I have been on harder missions then this, and done them alone." Lucy smiled  
"Shall we stay in town for the night?" Mira asked hopefully.  
"Sure, it is nice to be away from the guild now and then and just relax." Lucy said, Mira nodded and smiled.  
"Well, well. What do we have here? Two pretty girls out alone." A voice said, Lucy and Mira turned and saw a group of five men come towards them with sickening smirks on their faces.

END OF CHAPTER 5


	6. Chapter 6 - Thank You & A New Team

AN ; IMPORTANT : Due to me being away on a business trip out of the country from the 1 of March to the 23 I most likely won't be able to update during those three weeks, but in return I will post two chapters next time to make up for not being able to update for so long. Of course, I hope to at least be able to update at least once during those three weeks, but I can't promise anything. NOW, back to the story. I hope you will enjoy reading it. =D

Chapter 6 - Thank You & A New Team

Nobodys POV  
"Well, well. What do we have here? Two pretty girls out alone." A voice said, Lucy and Mira turned and saw a group of five men come towards them with sickening smirks on their faces.  
"You better leave us alone." Lucy said  
"But we want to play with you." One of them said  
"You heard the ladies. Leave them alone." An other voice said, this one Lucy recognized and she smiled.  
Seven hooded shapes and one huge snake came up to them. The snake came up to Lucy who laughed and petted its head.  
"Who are you?" One of the men asked  
"Your worst nightmare." One of the hooded people said  
"Tho, I think those two could take you out easily on their own. Or don't you recognize the demon Mirajane and the celestial mage Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail?" The first voice asked, the men paled as they glanced at the two women then they turned and ran. The group started laughing.  
"Well, that was easy." One of them said  
"Yea, what are you guys doing here?" Lucy asked, a smile on her face.  
"We just finished taking in some escaped Zeref worshipers." One said  
"Will you be staying in town over the night?" An other asked, Mira and Lucy nodded, tho Mira was a bit hesitant.  
"We were just going to find a hotel Mira knows about and then get something to eat. Care to join us?" Lucy asked, the seven nodded, and they all left to find a place to sleep in.  
On the way to the hotel Mira whispered to Lucy.  
"You know who they are? Because I don't." Lucy smiled and nodded.  
"It's Crime Sorcière." Lucy whispered back, Mira smiled.  
After having gotten their rooms they headed out to eat. When they were nearly done Angel gave Lucy the Hell key.  
"One of our opponents had this and since we defeated him and took his key their contract is broken. And we want you to have it, as thank you for all you have done for us." She smiled at her. Lucy had a huge grin on her face as she took it and looked it over.  
"It's The Greedy Demon, Mammon." She smiled. "Thanks you guys." She said, the others smiled back.  
"Aren't you a celestial mage as well?" Mira asked Angel  
"I was, but no longer. After Lucy beat me that time I decided to change, so now I use light magic." Angel explained. Lucy smiled.  
"You know, you remind me of someone I know. Her name is Yukino." Lucy smiled, Angel jerked.  
"Did you say Yukino?" She asked  
"Yes, Yukino Aguria." Lucy said  
"How old is she?" Angel asked  
"About 18 I think." Lucy said and looked at Mira who nodded.  
"That is the name and age of my younger sister. I thought she was dead." She whispered  
"She works as a barmaid at Sabertooth guild. She was a Celestial mage but lost her magic saving a guild mate a few days ago." Lucy explained  
"She is alive." Angel said, shocked.  
"You should go and see her, she has missed you a lot." Lucy smiled  
"She don't think I abandoned her?" She asked  
"No, she is just sad she lost you, she thinks you're dead." Lucy said  
"Maybe I should go and see her... But I have done so many bad things." She said  
"That won't matter to her. You are her only sister, as an older sister myself, I know it will be okay. She will understand." Mira smiled, Angel smiled back and nodded.  
"I will try." She said, the others smiled at her.  
They talked about different missions they had been on after that and all of them laughed at some of the stories Lucy told about her old team and what they had done in the past.  
Then they went back to the hotel to sleep.

~ next day ~  
The group went outside the town so Lucy could summon Mammon and contract him. But first she grabbed the knife she had packed just in case she found a Hell key, she put in on her belt, beside her whip, and out they went. When they reached an empty field she took out Mammon's key and summoned him.  
"I am liked to the path to the world of the Hell Demons.  
Now! O Demon, answer my call and pass thru the Gate!  
Gate of the Greedy Demon! I open thee! Mammon!" And in a puff of dark red smoke the handsome spirit appeared. He knelt down in front of Lucy and said.  
"It's an honor to meet you master." His hand over his heart.  
"I'm Lucy Heartfilia, and please, I'm your friend not your master, now please, stand up." She said and smiled at him. He looked up at her and slowly stood up.  
"You are the holder of all of the celestial western zodiac." He said, his voice smooth as honey. Lucy smiled and nodded.  
"Yes, would you like to make a contract with me?" She asked  
"It would be my honor, milady." He smiled at her. Lucy smiled back and took out her small knife, and cut her palm with it, then gave it to Mammon who also cut his palm. Then she put the knife back and the two shook hands. And just like when she contracted Asmodeus a dark light surrounded them and Lucy could feel power course through her body. Then it disappeared and they let go of each others hand.  
"The contract is sealed." Mammon said  
"Can you tell me when you are available and what your powers are?" Lucy asked and took out her notepad.  
"I'm available all the time and anywhere. My powers are fire magic and I'm the best in hand to hand fighting among the Hell keys, and my sin form is a wolverine, milady." He said with a slight bow of his head.  
"Thank you Mammon, I'm looking forward to working with you." Lucy smiled  
"As do I, milady." He said and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Lucy smiled and turned to the others.  
"What do you think?" She asked  
"He was gorgeous." Angel said breathlessly, Lucy and Mira nodded and the guys scowled.  
"He seem very powerful." Mira said  
"Yea, that was a crazy amount of magic you needed to summon him." Angel said  
"You can say that again." Lucy said and staggered. Mira grabbed her arm.  
"You okay?" She asked  
"Yea, he just used up a lot of magic. I think I will have to train a bit harder so I can use them in battle better, and not just a couple of minutes." Lucy smiled, Mira just smiled at her. After that did they go to the station to take the train back home. Crime Sorcière would go on foot in an other direction, but they promised to drop by now and then and say hi.

Mira POV  
Me and Lucy sat down on the train, both of us smiling.  
"So, what do you think about them?" Lucy asked me. I smiled at her.  
"I like them. They are funny and really nice to talk to." I said, Lucy nodded.  
"It would be fun to go on a mission with them sometime." She said, looking out the window. I nodded. That opened up for something I have wanted to ask her since yesterday.  
"What would you say if I asked if we could become partners?" I asked carefully, she looked over at me.  
"You want to get out in the field again?" She asked, I nodded.  
"Yesterdays mission was really fun. Sure I like being behind the bar as well, but the thrill of the battle against some monster is really nice as well." I said, she smiled at me and nodded.  
"Sure, I would love teaming up with you. I also liked this mission, it was fun to fight together with someone who don't try to take over my fight, just because I don't take someone or something out in the first attack." She said, I nodded.  
"I would never even dream of taking over your fights, unless you're about to be killed of course." I said with a smile. _Hell, she can be really scary when she is angry. You would have to be either crazy or not having a brain to try to take over her fights or belittling her._ I thought to myself while giving her a smile which she returned.  
"Then lets tell master as soon as we get back." She said, I nodded.  
"I have noticed that you have been on a lot of high paying missions lately, is there a specific reason?" I asked her  
"Yea, I'm saving up money so I can either rent a bigger apartment or buy a house, since I have gotten so many books that my current apartment is a bit cramped, and Laxus and his team is over a lot, as is Levy and her team and Gajeel is also there now and then." She said with a laugh, I smiled back.  
"Then after we have been on a couple more missions to get used to each other why don't we take some S-class missions?" I asked her and I saw her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.  
"You sure? That would be great." She said sounding really happy.  
"Of course. I know you have become much stronger so S-class should be no big problem for you." I told her, she smiled at me.  
"I heard from Laxus that a lot of the S-class missions have keys as reward, so I'm looking forward to taking some of them." She said.  
 _Aha, so that's why she is so happy about the S-class missions._ I thought, smiling at her. "We can see what kind of missions are on the board when we get there and see if we maybe can take one of them." I said  
"You are the best, Mira. Thank you." She beamed at me and I could feel myself beam right back. It's hard not to when she is so happy.  
"You must really want more keys, to be this happy." I said to her, she nodded.  
"I want to try to get the whole set of both the Hell keys and the Chinese zodiac as well as one I don't have any keys from yet." She said  
"Oh? How many is in each set?" I asked her curiously.  
"The Chinese zodiac is 12 and the Hell keys are 7 and then there is one more set and there is 11 in that one, so 30 keys all in all." She smiled at me, I gaped.  
"That many? How many keys exist?" I asked  
"There is the 88 celestial keys, the Hell keys, the Chinese zodiac, that is not included in the 88 and then there is the last, the Greek gods." She smiled  
"Wow, that's a lot. Do you want them all?" I asked  
"I don't know, sure it would have been kinda awesome to be the first celestial mage in history to be contracted to all of them, but, no, it would be too much, and I don't need most of them. One of the reasons I want those keys is so that I can protect those I care about, and I always care about the spirits I contract so the more keys I get, the bigger my family becomes." Lucy explained, she had tears in her eyes.  
"You didn't have many who cared when you were a kid, did you?" I asked her.  
"I had my mom, but she died when I was 10, after that the only ones who cared was the servants, but they were only there because they were paid to be there. After my mom died no one stuck around just for me, not until I came to Fairy Tail. When I came here, for the first time in many years was there someone who wanted to be with me for who _I_ was, not because my fathers money or to have me as an arm decoration but because I was me." She said, pain in her voice. I moved so I sat beside her and hugged her, she hugged me back.  
"That's why you took it so much harder when your old team didn't want you to go with them anymore." I said, understanding everything that had happened, why she had taken it so badly when they told her she should just stop going on missions, and why she shut them out after that and why she treated them like bugs now. It was all so that she wouldn't get more hurt then she had already been.  
"Yea, I hated it. Hated that they didn't give me a chance to get stronger so that I could help protect everyone. I just wanted the strength to be able to back my friends and family up if they need me. Not just be a pretty face, but a mage of the guild." She said, I nodded. I knew what she meant. Fairy Tail had given me and my siblings a home when we didn't have one, and I would do everything I could to protect both my blood related family and my adopted family.  
 _How dare they trample on her feelings like that? They should know better then that, they called themselves her best friends and they can't even understand the basic of who she is._ I thought to myself as we just sat there, hugging each other. I wanted to rip them a new one for hurting her like this. For making her feel unsafe in a place where she shouldn't have to have her guard up. I gritted my teeth in anger at her former team. I decided then and there that I would help her become one of the strongest in the guild, so no one would ever think of doing something like that again.  
"How about we show them just how strong you have become? The S-class exam aren't far away and the GMG are just after that. I will talk to master and I'm going to recommend you to be in the S-class exam." I said, Lucy looked up at me, her eyes dry now. She smiled at me.  
"That would be really nice, can you imagine their faces if I become S-class before them?" She asked, I smiled.  
"Oh, that sight, I so want to see it." I said with glee. She nodded.  
"Me too." She said grinning.  
"As soon as we get back we will talk to master about us teaming up and then after a couple of S-class missions I will recommend you to be in the S-class exam." I said  
"Thanks, Mira." She said and tightened her hug, I hugged her back and smiled.  
We sat like that for a few more minutes before I went back to my own seat. Both grinning like the mad women we sometimes are.

~ at the guild ~ Lucy POV  
Me and Mira walked in to the guild and greeted everyone there and walked up to master who sat on the bar. He smiled at us.  
"Welcome back, girls. How was the mission?" He asked  
"It was easy. We just had to take out a wyvern." Mira said, master smiled at us.  
"Good. And how did it feel to be out in the field again?" He asked, looking at Mira. She grinned.  
"It felt great. It was so fun that me and Lucy is partners now, so we will be going on missions together from now on." She said, I could hear a few of our guild mates choke on whatever they are drinking at the moment, probably beer. I smiled at Mira and master.  
"That's great news." Master smiled at us. We smiled as well.  
"Well, I'm off for home, I have some things to do. Oh, and Mira. Don't forget what we talked about on our way to do the mission. You said you had something you would do as well." I smiled at her. She smiled back and nodded.  
"I will. See ya here tomorrow morning for our next mission." She said, I nodded.  
"See ya then." I said and left. Waving to the rest of my guild mates who waved back.

~ still at the guild ~ Nobodys POV  
Mira and Makarov stayed at the bar, watching Lucy leave.  
"How did it go?" Makarov asked, he knew Mira understood that he didn't mean the mission.  
"It went well, but I feel like I want to rip her former team a new one. They hurt her worse then the rest of us realized." Mira said  
"No, they hurt her worse then _most_ of you realized. We knew how hurt she was by all this." Laxus said as he came up to them.  
"What do you mean?" Makarov asked  
"Me and my team, as well as Gajeel and Lily and Levy have spent a lot of time with her after her former team started leaving her behind, and she has told us about how all this has affected her. Not just mentally, but magically as well." Laxus explained  
"She had problems with her magic?" Mira asked, Laxus nodded.  
"Yea, her magic would react more obviously to how she was feeling, we thought it was because she no longer held her emotions under as tight a wrap as she did before all this. But it turned out that it had just grown so much that she couldn't control it all completely. She had trained everyday just so she could prov them wrong. And me and the others helped her." Laxus said  
"It grew so fast she couldn't control it?" Makarov asked, shocked.  
"Mhm, I think, and so does the others, including Blondie herself, that the reason it grew so fast is because her anger at her former team fueled it, so it grew faster." He said, Makarov nodded.  
"It's not unheard of that a mages power increased when they are angry or sad." He said  
"I heard you will be teaming up with her from now on." Laxus said and looked at Mira who nodded. "Good, look out for her." He said.  
"You don't have to tell me twice." Mira smiled, then she looked around and spotted Freed sitting at his usual table. She motioned for him to follow her to the back of the guild then told the two men with her that she had some things to do so she would leave, she just had to get something in the back, then she left. Freed following a minute later.

When he came around a corner he saw Mira standing there.  
"What is it?" He asked  
"I wanted to tell you that you misunderstood what I asked a couple of days ago. I didn't think, and I still don't think, you have cheated on me. The reason I asked as I did is because it's our half year anniversary in three weeks and I wanted to make sure you were home then and not out on a mission or something else." Mira told him, his face fell.  
"That's it?" He asked, disbelief in his voice.  
"Of course. I would never distrust you. I love you." Mira said, Freed hesitated, then lifted his hand and put it against her cheek, then pulled her to him in a hug.  
"I'm sorry I misunderstood." He said against her hair. She nodded and hugged him back.  
"It's okay now." She said with a smile.

~ Next day ~  
Lucy walked through the guild and up to the second floor and over to the S-class mission board.  
"Hey, Lucy, what are you doing? You aren't allowed to take S-class missions." Erza said and came up to her and was about to grab her to drag her downstairs. But Mira came up to them just then, dressed similar to how she had been dressed when she was young, just a more mature version of it.  
"Found a mission for the two of us?" She asked Lucy and rested her elbow on her shoulder as she scanned the board, Lucy nodded and pointed at one.  
"That one has two keys as reward as well as 23.000.000J, and all we have to do is kill three monsters. What do you think?" She said, completely ignoring Erza standing beside them.  
"Sounds good to me." Mira said, also ignoring Erza, who was now looking from one to the other with a confused look on her face.  
"What's going on here?" She asked. "Lucy, you aren't allowed up here since you aren't S-class." She scolded, frowning at her.  
"She is my partner and there for she is allowed up here if I'm with her. And we just chose a mission for us to do." Mira said, her voice overly kind.  
"What? You have partnered up?" Erza asked, shocked.  
"Yes, we have. Now if you excuse us, we have a mission to get to." Lucy said and she and Mira walked down to the bar where Lisanna stood. She had decided to take over her sisters work. And she stamped the mission and told them to be careful. They smiled and nodded before leaving. On the way to the station Lucy said.  
"I like your clothes." Mira smiled at her.  
"Well, a dress isn't the best type of clothes to fight in, even if I use take over magic. These are sturdier and people tend to not take me seriously when I wear a dress, and they always did when I went dressed like this." Mira explained  
"True. And now you might get back you old reputation as the demon of Fairy Tail." Lucy laughed  
"I hope so." Mira smiled, a slightly evil glint in her eyes.

Time skip ~ after having talked to the client  
"So, it's three unidentified monsters we have to take out." Lucy said, looking over the papers the client had given them. Turns out the monsters had killed several people already, including the other mages that have already gone after them, which is the reason for it being S-class and having so high a reward.  
"I think I have been up against monsters similar to these ones, when I teamed up with Elfman and Lisanna." Mira said  
"Good, then you know somewhat how we should fight them." Lucy said  
"Yea, if I remembered correctly their weak point is the base of the neck." Mira said  
"Okay, then this might be kinda easy. If we can find them without them noticing us that is." Lucy said  
"How?" Mira asked. Lucy took out one of her golden keys and showed Mira.  
"This is Sagittarius, the archer. And he is an expert at marksmanship, so if we find them we can have him shot them from a distance and we won't put ourselves in danger." Lucy explained. Mira nodded.

Mira POV  
"That's a great idea. It's always better to try to take out the enemy before they know you are there." I said  
"Yea, I remember a talk I had with Laxus about strategy a few months ago. And he said that if you don't know the strength of your opponent it's better to be cautious rather then reckless." Lucy smiled  
"That is true." I said. _How could they throw away someone like her, just like that?_ I thought. _She is strong and smart and knows how to think on her feet. She just needed experience._ As I thought this we walked towards the mountain where those monsters were supposed to be. I saw Lucy holding the archers key in her hand, Sagittarius, she called it. I also saw an other key in her hand and wondered which one that was. _I should ask her to teach me which of her keys is which._ I thought as we walked.

END OF CHAPTER 6


	7. Chapter 7 - Missions, Shadows & A Spider

AN / Yey :-D I managed to post this chapter despite working nearly 24/7 right now. I do hope you will love this chapter. :-D

Chapter 7 - Missions, Shadows & A Spider

Nobodys POV  
The two women walked carefully through the rocky terrain, keeping their eyes open for any sign of the monsters. They had just walked around a huge rock when Mira screamed, Lucy turned and saw her friend fly through the air and one of the monsters raise its clawed hand, ready to strike her.  
"Celestial Shield!" Lucy screamed, and a glittering shield appeared between herself and the monster. "Mira? Are you okay?" She shouted, then winced as the monsters clawed hand landed on her shield with enough force to nearly shatter it.  
"Darkness Stream!" A shout came and a a dark beam hit the monster at the base of its neck and it fell dead to the ground, its head nearly severed from the rest of the body. Lucy lowered her shield and looked over at Mira who was in her Satan Soul form and smiled.  
"Nice hit." She said as Mira landed.  
"Thanks. You okay?" She asked  
"Yea, I'm fine, what about you?" Lucy asked  
"Just a couple of bruises." Mira said  
"Good, then lets go find the two last monsters." Lucy said, Mira nodded and they continued to walk. Mira still in her Satan Soul mode.  
They found the remaining two a few minutes later and took them out pretty fast. Lucy used Mammon and took out one of them and Mira took the other.  
After Mammon had left Lucy said.  
"I so have to get stronger. I used up more magic with just one of the Hell gates open then I do with two zodiac open double the time." She grimaces  
"But that was still really good. He really is very strong." Mira said and looked at the head that Mammon had severed from the body with a kick and Lucy nodded. Then they walked back down to the town. They had to stop for a few minutes so Lucy could catch her breath once.  
"Ne, Lucy. What was that you used when the first monster attacked?" Mira asked suddenly  
"That was a celestial shield. I learned it a while back, it's still not perfect but I'm working on it." Lucy smiled  
"Sweet, it seemed pretty strong." Mira said, Lucy nodded.  
"It is. But that monster nearly broke it after just one hit." Lucy said with a small wince  
"I will help you train." Mira smiled. Lucy smiled back at her.  
"Thanks, Mira." She said  
After that they talked about what kind of training they could do so they both could get better.

~ on the train after having gotten the reward ~  
"So, what keys did you get?" Mira asked, Lucy took the two keys and studied them for a second.  
"This is Andromeda, the Chained One." She said and showed one of them. Then looked at the other. "And this is Cetus, the Sea Monster." Lucy smiled. "Now I have one more water spirit that I can use, one that won't drag me in to the attacks, hopefully." She said.  
"That's great. I look forward to see them." Mira smiled  
"Want to be there when I contract them?" Lucy asked  
"I can?" Mira asked, surprised but glad. Lucy nodded. "I would be glad to."  
"Then let's do so as soon as we get back to Magnolia." Lucy smiled and Mira nodded.  
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Lucy asked.  
"Did you solve the misunderstanding with Freed?" She looked at Mira who nodded.  
"Yea, a while after you had left yesterday did I talk to him and we are still together." She smiled  
"That's great. I'm so happy for you." Lucy smiled  
"Thanks. It's nice that someone in the guild knows about the relation between me and Freed." Mira said  
"Why haven't you told the rest of the guild yet?" Lucy asked  
"Freed is afraid that the rest of the guild is going to take it badly." Mira said  
"Hmm, I don't think they will. I know he and the other three did some bad stuff before, but they have made up for that a long time ago." Lucy said  
"That's what I have been trying to tell him as well, but he just won't listen, he thinks that even if they have forgiven them in general they won't accept that he is dating me, who is like the poster girl for Fairy Tail." Mira said, rolling her eyes about the poster girl stuff.  
"Want me to try to talk to him?" Lucy asked  
"You could do that? I don't want to trouble you." Mira said, Lucy smiled.  
"I would be glad to help." She said  
"Thanks, Lucy." Mira said  
"No problem. Does his team know about your relationship?" Lucy asked, Mira nodded.  
"Yea, he can't keep anything from Laxus." Mira smiled, Lucy also smiled.  
"Tomorrow he and the others will be coming over for dinner, care to join us? We could try to talk to him together then." Lucy said  
"Sure. Which time?" Mira asked  
"At 6pm." Lucy said  
"Can I come earlier?" Mira asked  
"You can come whenever you want." Lucy smiled  
"Then I will be over sometime around 3-4." Mira said, Lucy nodded.

~ the next day ~  
Lucy and Mira stood in Lucy's kitchen fixing the food when a knock sounded at the door, then the door opened.  
"Hello, we are here." Laxus shouted  
"We are in the kitchen." Lucy shouted back, shortly after the four mages came in to the kitchen, the two women smiled at then.  
"Hello." Mira smiled  
"Hello." They answered back.  
"Dinner is nearly done, why don't you sit down at the table?" Lucy said, the others nodded and went to sit down.  
"How was your first mission as a team?" Laxus asked Mira when she came in with plates, glasses and silverware.  
"It went well, we went up against three monsters, but we took them out pretty easily." Mira smiled, then she looked at Lucy who had just entered with the food. "And I have to say, Mammon is one demon I would hesitant to go up against, he was strong." Lucy smiled at her.  
"And he sucks up my magic like a sponge." Lucy laughed, and put the food down.  
"Is he really that strong?" Laxus asked, the two women nodded.  
"He might be on pair with master when he is in his titan form in physical power, if not more." Mira said, making the others stare at her and Lucy.  
"At the moment he might be a little bit less powerful, but as I get stronger so will he." Lucy said and sat down, they started eating and talked about her Hell keys, and how powerful they were.  
After the dinner was over Laxus said.  
"You really are the best cook in the guild, if you ever open up a restaurant I will come everyday." He patted his stomach.  
"Isn't that what you four are doing already, or at least close to it." Lucy mused.  
"Oh, shut up." Laxus growled without heat, Lucy grinned.  
"So, shall we do what we talked about on the train now or wait a bit more?" Lucy asked and looked at Mira. The others looked curious.  
"We can do it now." Mira said, Lucy nodded with a smile.  
"What is it you are going to talk about?" Freed asked, Mira just smiled.  
"You actually." Lucy said. Freed blinked.  
"Me?" He asked  
"Or more accurately your stupidity and lack of balls." Lucy said and looked at him.  
"I'm not following." He said, his team looked amused.  
"Why won't you let Mira tell the guild that you two are dating?" Lucy asked bluntly. "And don't come with this bullshit about the guild not accepting it. I know that not all will do that, but most of them will, there is no reason they wouldn't." She said, looking Freed right in the eyes. He blushed.  
"You told her?" He asks Mira.  
"I needed someone to talk to." Mira said, shrugging. Freed sighed.  
"Look at my past, and look at what I have done to the guild. It's obvious that they won't accept it." He said, Lucy scowled at him.  
"So what if not all of them will? Your friends will accept it, because it makes you both happy. And those who aren't your friends shouldn't mater, they aren't important." Lucy said  
"But..." Freed started  
"No. If you don't stop focusing on what others will say and start listening to what Mira wants as well, you might lose her. Because you refusing to tell others is making her insecure about if you really love her. And to be honest so am I. If you really love her, shouldn't you care more about what she wants and what makes her happy then those close minded idiots who might object? So what if someone object, there will always be someone who does that, no matter the pairing, because there will always be someone who has a crush on one or the other of the pair. So straiten your back and grow a pair." Lucy said with anger, Freed just gaped at her, his team also looked shocked. Mira had a sad smile on her lips. She hadn't told Lucy about her insecurity, but obviously she hadn't needed to. She had seen right through it. Freed looked at Lucy, and then at Mira.  
"Is it true?" He asked, she nodded. "How can you think that?" He asked, hurt in his voice. Mira looked at him, suddenly angry.  
"How would you feel if I told you I didn't want to tell anyone we dated? If our situations were reversed, how would you really feel?" She asked, unsheed tears in her angry eyes. But everyone could see the pain. Freed opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again and really thought about what his girlfriend had said, and he paled. He understood what she meant. He would have felt like she tried to hide it, as if she was ashamed of dating him. He was horrified when he realized how he had made his girlfriend feel.  
While he had his mental realization and slight breakdown, Lucy beckoned the others to follow her, she and Freed's team left so the two could be alone for a while. They sat down outside beside the canal.  
"That was some speech, Blondie." Laxus said, Lucy sighed.  
"I just spoke the truth. If I had said it in a gentle way he would never have understood, and Mira wouldn't have gotten the courage to asking that question. And I will never lose that nickname from you, will I?" She said, and looked at the water.  
"No, you won't. By the way, smart thinking about making Mira angry, so she could yell at him as well." Laxus said  
"Yea, let's see how long it will take before they come down." Evergreen said

They sat there for ten whole minutes before the door opened and the two came out. Lucy looked at Mira and raised one eyebrow. Mira smiled at her.  
"We will tell the guild tomorrow." She said, Lucy smiled at her. Then she glanced at Freed, then looked back at Mira.  
"So he did grow a pair." She said with a smirk. Freed blushed, and Mira laughed.  
"Yes, he did. Thank you, Lucy. It's thanks to you he changed his mind." Mira said as they come up to them. She gave Lucy a hug.  
"No problem. I'm glad that I could help." Lucy smiled as she returned the hug.  
"Well, now that this is fixed, I'm heading home. See you all tomorrow. And, Lucy, thanks for a great dinner." Evergreen said, smiling at the younger woman.  
"See you tomorrow." Lucy said  
"I should leave as well." Laxus said, and Bixlow nodded.  
"Same here." Freed said  
"Yea, I should probably head home as well." Mira said  
"See you all tomorrow." Lucy smiled and went back up to her apartment. A smile on her lips.

~ next day ~ a couple hours after they had told the guild about the relationship ~ Lucy POV  
I was sitting with Mira at one of the tables, we were having lunch and talking about going on a mission again, since Mira liked my idea of a new home so much she wanted to get a bigger place for her and her siblings as well, rather then the one story four room and a kitchen place they now had.  
"Hey, Lucy, I have an idea. How about we ask Crime Sorcière if they want to come on a S-class mission with us? That way we can take one that is a little bit harder, so you can test your own limits better." Mira suddenly said, I thought about it then smiled and nodded.  
"Sure, we just have to find a way to contact them, so we can ask." I said  
"That's easy, Jellal has a comm. lacrima that we can contact him on. I heard him tell master that the last time he and the others were here." Mira said, I smiled wider at her.  
"Then lets ask them." I said, she nodded and took out her lacrima. We both had one, in case something happened while we were out on a mission.  
"Hi, Jellal. This is Mira. I was wondering if you and your guild mates wanted to go on a harder S-class mission with me and Lucy." I heard Mira ask  
"Sure, but can it wait for a day or two? We are escorting a group of prisoners right now, and will be done tomorrow morning." Jellal said  
"Sure, that works perfect for us, since we came back from an other mission the day before yesterday." Mira said with a smile  
"Good, then we will contact you tomorrow when we are done here." Jellal said, I could hear a slight smile in his voice.  
"Talk to you then." Mira answered and ended the call. "So, that's that. Let's go and see if there is a hard one that would fit our two groups." She said as soon as she had put down the lacrima, I nodded.  
"I'm looking forward to this mission." I said as we walked up the stairs. She nodded.  
"Me too. I have never seen what they can really do." Mira said  
"I have seen some of it. And they are strong." I said  
"They would have to be, to have been able to climb so high." Mira said, I nodded.  
"Yea, but I'm curious to see how Angel fights now, since she used to be a stellar mage, just like me." I said as we came up to the mission board  
"I'm sure she is a great mage." Mira said, I smiled.  
"Yea, I'm sure she is, she has never been a bad mage, I just didn't like her way of thinking when it came to spirits." I said, Mira laughed.  
"I have noticed that the only thing you can really hold a grudge against is people who treat spirits like tools." Mira laughed  
"Yea, it is just wrong to do, but I have a feeling Angel has changed." I said, then I pointed out one mission. "What about this mission?" I asked, Mira looked at it and nodded.

 _*S-class mission : Take out the dark guild 'Black Widow'  
Location : Mountains around Micher  
Reward : 150.000.000J + 4 keys*_

"Sounds good to me." She said and took it down. "Lets go and tell Lisanna, and that we will leave tomorrow or the day after." She said, I nodded and we walked down to Lisanna and explained.

~ the next morning ~  
We sat on the second floor, to get away from the fighting two of my ex-teammates had started a few minutes ago, when Mira's lacrima went of.  
"Hello." She said in to it.  
"Hello. This is Jellal, we are done with the mission now. Have you found a good one we can go on now?" He said, Mira nodded.  
"Yea, we have one here, it's up in the mountains around Micher, we have to take out a dark guild called 'Black Widow'. The reward is 150.000.000J + 4 keys." Mira said  
"Sounds good to me, we can meet up half way there, we are in Crocus right now, so we are between Magnolia and Micher." Jellal said  
"Good, then we will go down to the station, there is a train leaving for Crocus in half n hour. Then we can take the train from there to Micher." Mira said,  
"Okay, see you in a few hours." Jellal said  
After that we told Lisanna that we were leaving and went to the station.

~ In Micher, the next morning ~ Nobodys POV  
They had just gotten off the train, Crime Sorcière would wait in the town square while Mira and Lucy went to talk to the major about the mission.

~ After having talked to the major ~  
"Okay, so, 'Black Widow' has 7 strong S-class mages and the others are average and slightly above. And from what the major said the guild hall is located somewhere in the mountains west of here." Lucy said  
"Good, then lets go." Cobra said, and they all started towards the west.  
They had walked for a couple of hours when Lucy said.  
"I'm sending Canes Venatici out ahead of us to see if they can pick up any traces of the mages." The others nodded. After having summoned the hunting dogs and explained to them what she was after they gave a yip in understanding and took of on either side of the group. Lucy smiled after them as she and the others continued walking. Angel came up beside her.  
"Do you have many new keys since we fought?" She asked, Lucy smiled and nodded.  
"Yea, I have all the golden zodiac and one Chinese zodiac, and two hell keys and a bunch of silver keys." Lucy said, Angel smiled.  
"Not bad. You most be the first to have that many of the powerful ones since they were created." She said, Lucy nodded.  
"That's what I have gathered as well. It's pretty nice to have that kind of power, but most of all, it's nice to have a family that large." Lucy said  
"You really treat them as family, don't you?" Angel asked, Lucy nodded.  
"I didn't really have any family after my mama died, so I'm happy to have one now, both with my spirits and with the guild." She said, a little pink on her cheeks. She didn't know how the white haired woman would take that.  
"That's great, I know what you mean, after I was taken to the tower the only family I had was these guys, and we weren't that close until recently, now they are like my brothers, and so is Jellal, and Meredy has become like a sister." Angel said, they had gotten a bit behind the others.  
"You also have Yukino." Lucy said  
"I haven't gotten up the nerve to talk to her yet." Angel confessed  
"Want me to go with you after this mission is over?" Lucy asked  
"You would do that?" Angel asked, Lucy nodded.  
"Of course. I was planing to go there anyway to show my newest keys." Lucy smiled  
"Then let's go later." Angel said with a small smile, but she looked a bit nervous. Lucy nodded.  
"Hey, are you two coming?" Midnight shouted from ahead of them.  
"Yea, yea. We are coming. Don't get your panties in a twist." Lucy shouted back with a smile. She and Angel speed up and reached them quickly.  
"I do not have panties." Midnight said between clenched teeth. Lucy just laughed.  
"If you say so." She said, the others also laughed. Midnight just grumbled something about she not having as much respect for him now as during the Nirvana battle. Lucy smiled and said. "I do, I just refuse to treat you as anything but a close friend who I can tease without risking being choked by my own clothes." Midnight smiled at her.  
They walked for a few more hours before deciding to make camp. Canes Venatici came up to Lucy and said they would return home, Lucy thanked them for their help and after they had returned she called Virgo and asked her to set up a camp for them. Jellal had just started but was suddenly standing in front of a swirling mass and when it calmed down a nice camp stood there and a pot with soup stood boiling over a fire. Virgo bowed and said.  
"The camp is up, Hime. I also prepared some food for you and your friends. Punishment Hime?" Lucy smiled at her.  
"Thanks Virgo. And no, no punishment." She said, Virgo bowed again and left. Jellal looked at her.  
"That was handy." He commented, Lucy nodded.  
"She is great." She smiled and walked over to the pot, sniffed and smiled broadly. "And this smells fantastic." She said  
They ate while talking about what had happened since they last saw each other.

~ Time skip ~  
The next day they started out just as the sun rose over the horizon, Virgo had packed down the camp while they had eaten, and Lucy had called Canes Venatici again to run ahead of them.

Lucy POV  
We walked for a few hours before the two dogs came back with news that they had found the dark guilds base. I sent them back with thanks and then we continued cautiously until we saw the guild building.  
"How do we do this?" I asked  
"Shall we just attack and then see who we end up against or try to plan it?" Mira asked  
"I don't think we can plan this very much, since we don't know much about them." Meredy said  
"Then lets just attack and beat them up before they have time to fight back." Midnight said, we nodded. Then we walked right up to the guild and Cobra kicked open the doors. We walked in, I looked around and had to fight not to gag. This place looked more like a whore house then a guild hall, everywhere was half naked women who, by the looks of it, didn't want to be there.  
"Well, well. What do we have here?" A large black haired man with black eyes said, he looked mean.  
"We are here to disband your guild and bring you in to the Rune Knights." Mira said in a sickly sweet voice. The dark mages laughed. A slim woman with pink hair and purple eyes walked up to the black haired mans side and said.  
"And who are you to think you will be able to do that?" She asked, none of us answered. Just assessed our opponents. "Fine. Take them out." She ordered the rest of her guild mates. We attacked as well.  
"I will take the weaker ones, you guys take the others." Razer said, we nodded. We ran past the mages attacking us towards the ones who had stayed back, me and Jellal ended up facing of with the man and woman who had spoken earlier and I saw Meredy and Angel standing in front of a pair of twins.  
"What do you say, shall we take this outside, so we don't get in the way of the others fights?" Jellal said  
"Sure, that way we won't have to clean up your blood from the guild floor." The man said and we walked outside. We walked to an open space among the rocks that surrounded the guild.  
"Here will do just fine." The woman said, then she turned and sent a thread at me, I dodged and pulled out one of my keys.

~ with Razer ~ Nobodys POV  
Razer watched as his friends faced of with the others and how they all left the guildhall and moved their fighting somewhere else, he looked at the ones that was left and smirked. This was going to be easy. The women that had been there when they came left running through the doors. He slowed down the dark mages sense of time and attacked them, when he stopped they all fell to the ground unconscious. He took out some magic canceling ropes and tied them up, then he left to go snoop through the other rooms to see if he could find anything they could need.

~ with Midnight ~  
Midnight was up against a requip mage, he yawned when he saw how long it took the man to equip his sword. As long as he isn't as good as Erza he wasn't worried.  
"Oy, why are you yawning just before we are going to fight?" The man asked  
"Because this is going to be easy." Midnight said  
"Why you! I will show you easy." He screamed, he obviously didn't have much patients and was a hot head. Midnight used his magic and choked him until he was unconscious. He yawned again and tied the man up and started dragging him back to the guild hall and wait for the others to be done while Razer looked through the storage rooms.

~ with Angel and Meredy ~  
The two women was up against a pair of twins with long red hair and cold blue eyes.  
"Look at those two, thinking they are so tough." One of them said  
"Yea, lets show them tough." The other said  
"Damn, seems we drew the bad one." Meredy said  
"You bet you did, tho that blue haired guy and that ugly blond bimbo drew the worst, they are up against our master and Erica, they are the strongest ones here." One of the redheads said  
"That wasn't really what I meant, I just meant that of course we would end up against the bitches of this guild." Meredy said, then a hard glint appeared in her eyes. "And did you just call Lucy an ugly bimbo?" She asked her voice threatening and low.  
"So what if we did? She is a nobody." The other redhead said, Angels eyes flashed and she lifted her hand and sent a beam of light at the twins.  
"Do not, I repeat, do not, speak like that about our friend." She said with a voice that shook with rage. The beam hit the ends of their hair and they screeched.  
"My hair! How dare you, you fucking SOB."  
"That should teach you not to speak ill of our friends." Meredy said. The twins glared at them.  
"Fine. Lets finish this." They said together. Then they took a leap up in to the air and stayed there. Then they sent powerful torrents of air at the two women, who had to lift their arms to protect their eyes.  
Meredy retaliated by sending her swords at them. But they just went right through them. She blinked at that. The twins laughed.  
"No offensive magic can hurt us unless you hit us both at the same time." They said, Meredy and Angel looked at each other then smiled. Meredy lifted her hand and sent a sensory link at them and connected them together.  
"Thank you for telling us your weakness so fast." Angel said and sent a sphere of light at one of them, she didn't even bother dodging and got hit right in the chest, both twins screamed as they felt the attack hit, then they fell to the ground.  
"How? How did you do that?" They asked, looking at the two with hatred as they stood back up.  
"You see the thing on your wrists, it's a sensory link, I have connected your senses and made them into one." Meredy smiled  
"What?!" The twins asked, horrified.  
"As you said, lets finish this." Angel said and sent a beam of light at one of the twins, Meredy sent her swords at the other. The twins screamed with pain before falling unconscious.  
Angel and Meredy smiled at each other, then tied the twins up and dragged them back to the guild hall to wait for the others.

~ with Cobra (and Cubellios) ~  
"Are you fucking serious?" The man in front of Cobra asked. Cobra lifted an eyebrow.  
"What?" He asked  
"A fucking snake? They are disgusting. How can you stand being so close to it?" He asked, shuddering. Cobra glared at him.  
"Cubellios is my partner, don't you dare speak ill of her." He hissed  
"It's a fucking snake. If I had to choose anyone in your little group to partner up with it would be that blond hoty. At least then I would have something to amuse myself with between fights." He said with a smirk, Cobras eyes widened.  
"Not only are you speaking ill of Cubellios but now you are insulting Lucy, one of the bravest mages I have ever met." He said, he could feel himself getting angrier.  
"Oh, did I hit a nerve? Maybe I should play with her later, if there is anything left of her after master and Erica is done with her." The man smirked. Cubellios hissed at him, poison flying from her fangs. Cobra smiled.  
"You are right. There is no way Lucy would lose, to anyone. No matter who they are. She is way too stubborn." He said, petting Cubellios on the head. Then he turned to the man and said. "And you should stop kidding yourself. Lucy would never want to partner up with the likes of you. She has too high a standards. You would never make the cut, you are too stupid and too out of her class." Cobra said with a smirk, the man shook with anger.  
"You will regret those words, you bastard." He shouted, then he lunched himself at Cobra, who stepped aside. The man growled.  
"You are a palm mage, am I right?" Cobra asked  
"So what?" The man asked  
"Just wondering." He said, then hit the man hard with a 'poison dragons sharp horn', hitting him square in the face. He walked up to the fallen mage and said as he tied him up. "As I said, you are way out of her league." Then he thought. _And so am I._ He then dragged the man back to the guild.

~ with Mira and Hoteye ~  
They had ended up against the same mage.  
He sighed and scratched the back of his head.  
"Is there any way I can convince you two to just leave me alone?" He asked  
"Only if you give up and comes with us without a fight." Mira said  
"I'm afraid I can't do that." He said  
"Then we have to fight." Hoteye said and prepared for battle.  
"Fine." The man said with a sight. He then sent a huge amount of spiky rocks at them. Hoteye made them in to liquid form.  
"I will take care of this guy. You can give me support." He said and looked at Mira, she hadn't even flinched when the rocks came at them, trusting her partner for this fight. She nodded at him and used her Satan Soul and flew up in to the air, waiting for her chance to attack.  
"Oh, so you also use earth magic, interesting, too bad we have to fight." The mage said, then he gave a sound of surprise when the ground under him went soft. He jumped away from the aria and was met with Mira's fist to the face. She sent him spinning down towards the ground again. Hoteye quickly made the ground liquefied. The mage hit the soft ground and got stuck. Then Mira sent a 'Soul Extinction' at him and knocked him out. She landed beside Hoteye.  
"Nice job." He said  
"You too." She said, then they got him out of the ground and tied him up.  
"I wonder how the others are doing." Mira said and looked in the direction Lucy and Jellal had left.  
"I'm sure they are all doing fine. The are all strong after all." Hoteye said, Mira smiled at him.  
"That is true. I just hope they aren't too hurt when they are done." Mira said as they walked in to the guildhall and saw the others there.  
"Do you know if Lucy has had Gemini copy Wendy?" Angel asked, she and Meredy had cuts from the wind the twins had sent at them.  
"Yea, Wendy is one of the people Gemini has copied. What happened to you two?" Mira asked, so Angel and Meredy told of their fight.  
"They weren't that smart. If they were they should have kept their weakness a secret." Meredy said  
"Better then go up against someone who is both an idiot and a disgusting perv." Cobra said  
"He hit on you?" Mira asked  
"No, he said he would use Lucy as entertainment between fights." Cobra explained, Mira got a dark aura.  
"I hope you brought him down hard." She said  
"I did." He said, Mira nodded once. Glaring towards the tied up palm mage.  
"Anyway, the only ones who isn't back yet is Lucy and Jellal." Angel said

"Yea, seems like the rest of us had pretty easy fights, surprisingly enough, since these guys was supposed to be powerful." Mira said, the others agreed.  
"Hey, guys, look what I found in one of the storage rooms." Razer said as he came back, he held a silver key in his hand.  
"Is that a gate key?" Midnight asked, Razer nodded.  
"Don't know which one tho." He said, he gave it to Angel who looked it over.  
"This is Leo Minor." She said with a smile.

~ at the same time with Lucy and Jellal ~  
They had been fighting for a while now. Lucy was breathing heavily as she dodged a thread. It hit the ground with a sizzling sound as the acid on the thread ate the ground the thread hit. One wrong hit by that thread and she could be dead. And unluckily for her it seemed the woman was faster then Lucy herself. She had already used Virgo to try to take her down, but her chains had just been melted by the woman. Now she saw her shift, her form change, and when Lucy saw what the woman turned in to she screamed, a short scream of shook, fear and disgust.

Jellal had as much trouble with his opponent, he was a shadow mage, someone who could manipulate the shadows around him. Luckily it seemed as if he was strong enough that the dark guild master couldn't control his shadow. He knew Lucy was still alright. That's when he heard her scream. He turned his head and his eyes widened. There, in front of Lucy, stood a huge, hairy, ugly, black spider. It sent a huge amount of threads at Lucy, and she was barley able to dodge. She pulled out an other key.

"Open, gate of the ram! Aries!" And Aries appeared between Lucy and the woman, Erica.  
"I'm sorry." She said  
"Aries, I need you to create a wall around her, to keep her from attacking." Lucy said  
"Wool wall." She said as she surrounded the spider-woman with her pink wool.  
"Thanks Aries." Lucy said as she bent forward and rested her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.  
"Are you okay, Lucy-Hime?" Aries asked as she walked up to her. Lucy smiled at her.  
"Yea, just a little irritated at that woman. And I really, really hate spiders, they are disgusting." Lucy said, shuddering slightly.  
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help." Aries said a minute later, her head bowed.  
"You have always been a great help to me." Lucy smiled, and Aries looked up blushing with a small smile before she returned to the spirit world. The wool disappeared and Lucy once more faced off with the spider-woman, now with an even breath.

In the mean time was Jellal trying to get to the master, but his shadows was too hard to penetrate.  
He turns when he heard Lucy scream in pain and when he sees her lying on the ground, holding her leg and the spider-woman aiming a new attack at her, he panics slightly. He uses 'Meteor' and gets her away from the attack, noticing in passing that it would have hit her in the head.  
"Are you okay? Can you stand?" He asks her. Lucy nodes.  
"Yea, it's just pain, it will pass." She say as he puts her down, they look over at their opponents, they are talking as if there is no danger.  
"You seem to have some problems with that spider." Jellal comments, Lucy nodes.  
"Yea, she's pretty fast, and if anything holds on to her she just melts it." She said, then looks over at the master. "You don't seem to be having much luck against yours either." She say  
"No, he uses shadow magic, and I might be fast, but his shadows can shape in to any shape he wants it to." Jellal say  
"That's it." Lucy say, snapping her fingers.  
"What is?" Jellal asks  
"We just change opponents. The spider is too fast for me, and the shadows are too versatile for you. So if you, who are very fast, takes the spider, and me, who uses a magic that is very versatile, takes the shadow mage, we should have less problems." Lucy say, Jellal smiles.  
"You are absolutely right. Lets do this." He say and they both turn towards their opponents.  
"You done saying your last farewells now?" The spider hisses  
"Not really." Lucy say and takes out three keys, Jellal used his 'Meteor' and attacked the spider and punched her hard, she flew backwards, away from the other two.  
"What the?" The master asked  
"Open! Gate of the Lion, the twins, the greedy demon! Loki! Gemini! Mammon!" She said, power in her voice. The master turned towards her as her two spirits and her demon appeared.  
"So, you changed opponent." He said, smirking.  
"Gemini, I need you to turn in to Rouge. Loki, Mammon, work together with Gimi-Rouge and take out that man, fast. I won't be able to keep your gates open for long." Lucy said as she sank down on the ground.  
"As you wish, Lucy-Hime/Lucy/Milady." The spirits said, and Gemini turned in to Rouge, and when the master attacked using shadows Gemi-Rouge just ate them, then sent them back in the form of a roar, Loki used a Regulus Beam and Mammon sent a tornado of Fire at the man. The three attacks hit him head on and took him out. Lucy smiled.  
"Can one of you tie him up in magic canceling ropes? I don't think I can stand, let alone walk, to do it." She said, Loki disappeared and then reappeared, this time with some rope that he used to tie up the master with.  
"There. We will return to our worlds now. See you later, princess." Loki said, giving her a bow. Lucy smiled at him, then thanked all of them as they left. A few minutes later did Jellal come back, he was dragging the spider-woman.  
"I see you are done here. Are you okay?" He asked, Lucy nodded.  
"Yea, he didn't even manage to land a single hit on me." She smiled  
"Good, you can tell me later how you did that, for now, lets get back to the others." He said, Lucy nodded and stood up, but she staggered and Jellal caught her arm. "Can you walk?" He asked  
"With help I should be able to. At least back to the guild where the others are." Lucy smiled, he nodded and grabbed the master with the same hand he dragged the woman, then he used his free hand to support Lucy. "I take it you didn't have much problem with her either." She said, Jellal shook his head.  
"No, it just took two attacks and she was out." He said  
"We should have changed opponent from the beginning." Lucy said, her voice betraying how tired she was.  
"Yea, then we would have been done long ago." Jellal said, a few minutes later did they arrive at the guild hall, their friends met them outside.  
After some fussing they all left, Lucy sat on Cubellios back since she didn't have the strength to walk on her own. The others helped drag the dark mages. They would tell the others about their fights in more detail when they got back to town and found an inn to sleep in.

END OF CHAPTER 7


	8. Chapter 8 - Pain & Reunion

AN / Finally A new chapter =D  
This is chapter 1/2 that I post today.

Now on with the Story !

Chapter 8 - Pain & Reunion

Lucy POV  
We had just given the dark mages over to to Rune Knights and was looking for a hotel or inn we could stay the night in.  
We found an inn not long after, and we got two rooms, one for us girls and one for the guys. After having put our things in the room we joined the guys in theirs so we could talk about our fights and so I could summon Gemini and have them turn in to Wendy so they could see to everyone's wounds. I was tired but it was better to have it done now, I don't like seeing wounds on my friends. We sat down on the beds and I summoned Gemini and asked them to transform in to Wendy. They did so and took care of everyone's wounds. I smiled and thanked them, they waved and left. I sagged to the side, my head hitting Jellal's shoulder. I tried to sit up straight but failed.  
"Sorry." I murmured  
"It's okay. You have used up a lot of magic today." He said, I smiled and nodded.  
"Thanks. It feels like I don't even have enough magic to summon Plue at the moment." I said with a small smile. The others smiled.  
"You didn't have to summon Gemini and heal us tonight you know. You could have waited to tomorrow." Angel said, I smiled at her.  
"Better to have it done, that way everyone can sleep better and not be in pain." I said  
"Well, you are going to sleep very well tonight, that's for sure." Meredy said, I nodded.  
"Yea, I will probably sleep like a rock." I laughed, I could feel my eyelids falling down and forced them up again, but they were so heavy that they fell down again, and this time I didn't have the strength to open them again. The last thing I heard was Cobra shouting.  
"Grab her, she's falling." Then everything went black.

Jellal POV  
I heard Cobras warning just in time to catch Lucy before she fell and hit the floor. I moved her so she laid behind me and Midnight on the bed then turned to the others.  
"So, shall we go over what happened during our fights now and fill Lucy in tomorrow or wait until tomorrow when she is awake?" I asked them, they looked at each other.  
"I think we should wait. She deserve to be present and awake when we go over it." Mira said, Angel and Meredy nodded.  
"Yea, she has done so much for us already so we should do something for her, even if it's only waiting with going over what happened in our fights." Midnight said  
"She don't see it like that. She don't expect to get anything back for helping you, since she see all of you as her friends. She will be happy with a simple thank you." Mira said, smiling slightly.  
"That's her in a nut case alright." I said, smiling slightly at the sleeping blond.  
"How do you know that?" Hoteye asked me  
"Erza often talked about her, she said that Lucy was the only person in the guild who didn't think it was weird that she liked cake and shopping and other girly things. And that she would put herself at risk to help her friends without thinking twice about it." I said, Mira nodded.  
"She was willing to go back to her father just so Phantom Lord wouldn't hurt us more then they already had, and that despite that her father tried to marry her of to some noble who just wanted her because of her looks, body and money." Mira said, I could feel my eyes widen, and saw the others reacting the same.  
"I knew she was carrying, but that's ridiculous. She is too kind." Razer said, the rest of us nodded.  
"Yea, but that's who she is. And isn't that one of the reasons all of us want to do so much for her, because we know that she will be there for us if we need help, no matter what it is?" Mira said, we smiled.  
"You are right. But she still need to learn to think more about herself rather then others." I said  
"I think she do think about herself, just that she values her friends more." Angel said  
"She do. She has told me a little about how her life was before she came to Fairy Tail, and it wasn't much fun and she was very lonely, that's why she cares so much about her friends." Mira explained  
"I don't know anything about her life except for some of the things she has been through since she joined Fairy Tail, but there has been some times when she believes no one sees her that she have had a lot of pain in her eyes and she looks like she is about to break in to small pieces, but then she shakes her head as if to rid herself of her thoughts and then she is back to her usual self." Midnight said, he looked worried.  
"She has been through a lot she don't tell anyone. But I'm glad in a way she had the life she had, because it has helped her become who she is today." Mira said, I nodded.  
"But I don't think we should push her to tell us anything she has been through. If she want to tell us she will tell us when she is ready to talk about it." I said, the others nodded, I could see Cobra looking at her with kind eyes, a kindness he only showed Cubellios and rarely anyone else. He looked over at me and shrugged slightly, I smiled back slightly.  
"So, shall we get to bed and sleep now then? Or shall we sit up and talk some more?" Mira asked  
"Can't you tell us more about what happened in the guild and about yourself and Lucy?" Angel asked, we looked at her and she smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "I'm curious about what more has happened there and we don't really know much about either of you two or how you ended upon with the guild." She said and looked at Mira who nodded, a smile on her face.  
"There isn't much to tell about myself. Me and my two siblings came to Fairy Tail after we had to flee our home when I accidentally used magic to take over a monster and saved our small town, we were searching for answers about how I had done it, and they helped me accept what had happened and gave the three of us a home and a family. We have been there ever since." Mira said, a small smile on her lips.  
"Must have been hard." Meredy said, Mira nodded.  
"It was, but Fairy Tail helped me through it." She smiled  
"How was it to grow up in Fairy Tail?" Midnight asked  
"It was great, everyone helped out if there was a problem, even if we fight with each other all the time we will still back each other up if someone else attacks. It was like having a huge family who accept you for who you are and don't care if you have some weird quirks, sure, not everyone is as accepting or understanding, but most is." She said, I could see that most of my guild mates had a slightly longing look. And I understand them, it would have been great to grow up like that.  
"It sounds great." Angel said  
"It is." Mira said, then she looked over at Lucy and a sad look passed in her eyes. "But even if we are as free as we are all of us have things from our pasts that weighs us down, and secrets that we hope never will come to the surface." She looked up at me. "Some have been through less pain and some so much pain it's amassing they are still alive." She looked around at us all, then back at Lucy. We all felt the weight of what she was implying. Lucy most have had one of the worst pasts in the guild.  
"I'm surprised she can smile so brightly, if I had been in her situation I don't think I could have done it." I said  
"Why not?" Mira asked  
"From what Erza has told me Lucy lost her mother when she was young, and after that her father started treating her very badly, so in a sense did she lose both her parents at the same time, and then her father betrayed her in a way by trying to marry her off like she was just a thing to be used. We all were treated badly by people we don't know, but she was treated badly by her own father, someone she loved. I think that must be worse then being treated badly by strangers." I said  
"You can't measure pain and suffering like that." Lucy suddenly said from behind me. I turned to look at her. She still looked drowsy but she was awake.

Nobodys POV  
As Lucy tried to sit up Jellal moved to help her, he and Midnight helped her sit up on the edge. She looked at Jellal, then at the rest of them.  
"There is no way to measure pain and suffering, because everyone is different, and because of that our view of pain and suffering is different." Lucy said  
"But still, it must have been bad." Jellal said, Lucy shrugged.  
"I survived, and I managed to break away from that life and make a new one, so it's okay." She said and smiled  
"If you say so." Angel smiled  
"Yes, so, have you gone over the fights yet?" Lucy asked, the others shook their heads.  
"We waited for you to wake up, so you could hear about it as well." Mira said with a smile. Lucy smiled at all of them.  
"Thanks." She said  
And all of them told the others about their fights and their opponents, Lucy felt like throwing up when she heard what the guy Cobra fought said, he sounded disgusting.

Lucy POV  
I was glad Cobra had stood up for me against that disgusting guy like that. I gave him a grateful smile which he returned.  
 _He has really changed since the nirvana fiasco. Back then he would never have smiled unless someone was hurt. Now he smiles more and can jokes around with his guild mates, even with me and some of my guild mates._ I thought and yawned.  
"I'm heading to bed, before I decide this bed is mine for tonight." I said and stood up, I staggered but managed to keep from falling. I smiled at the others and walked towards the door.  
"I'm joining you, it's getting late so we should all get to bed." Mira said and the others nodded. I walked to our room followed by the other girls. We prepared ourselves for bed and then fell in to bed.

~ with the guys ~  
The guys went to bed shortly after the girls had left. And, unknown to Lucy, one of them did so with thoughts of her running through his head. Thinking about her smile and how she cares about her friends, and how her scent was all over his bed from her short nap. He was brought out of his thoughts when Cubellios moved beside him, putting her head beside his. He smiled slightly at her and stroked her head, his thoughts still on the blond, wish thinking that she would think about him like he was about her. Then his thoughts sobered.  
 _As if she would want an ex-criminal like me. She can get any man she wants, so why go for someone like me? Who once hurt both her and her friends?_ He thought to himself as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The next morning came bright and early. Lucy groaned and turned over, trying to get her face out of the sunlight. When that didn't work she sat up, looking around at her friends that still slept. She sighed and got up and went in to take a shower. After having showered and put on some clean clothes she went downstairs and out. Sitting down on the backside of the inn. Well there did she start meditating. Hoping to get a little bit closer to be able to have her Hell demons out longer then she could at the moment.

Cobra woke to the feeling of magic in the air. He immediately recognized it as Lucy's. So he got up and went to see what was going on, worried that something had happened to her, especially since she wasn't back to full power after the battle the day before. He found her behind the inn, sitting in midair, surrounded by a sphere of magic. He gaped.  
 _That is when she isn't at full strength?_ He thought, shocked. _How can her former team call her weak when she holds that much power within herself? It can't be that they don't know, right? Not after all the time they spent with her out on missions, watching her fight. Or are they really so insensitive that they don't feel it?_ He continued his thoughts. He stood leaning on the back wall of the inn, just watching. After a few minutes he noticed that the sphere around her started to get unsteady and he moved closer. Then he saw her lower herself to the ground before taking the remaining magic back in to herself.

As soon as the last of the remaining magic had returned to her body she sagged. Her breath becoming ragged.  
"Are you okay?" A voice asked from behind her. She turned her head and saw Cobra. She smiled at him and nodded.  
"Yea, I'm fine. Just out of breath. Doing this takes a lot of concentration." She said, he nodded and sat down beside her.  
"Well, whatever that was it was impressive." He said, she blushed and lied down on her back.  
"Yea, well, I have been doing this for months now. In the beginning I was no good at all, I could barley make sand move around me when I sat on a beach, air was easier since it don't weights much, unless you compress it in to a small space." She laughed  
"But sand isn't that heavy, right?" He said, raising an eyebrow.  
"It s when you try to move it with the help of your magic. Unless you use a technique of some sort." She explained, he nodded.  
"Well, whatever that was, it was still impressive. I have seen people manage to move the air around them in some way or other, but never have it been so strong that they could float on top of their magic while meditating like that." He said  
"I wasn't floating on it exactly, I was sitting in the middle of it and just followed it when I made the sphere around me larger." Lucy explained  
"Can anyone do it?" Cobra asked  
"Anyone with good enough concentration and enough magic can learn it. In the beginning was I unable to do it this well, I would wobble as soon as I left the ground, or my magic wasn't strong enough to support me, or my concentration wasn't good enough. It took me until just a couple of months ago to be able to even float a centimeter above ground, after that it was easier, I just had to expand my container and make my magic more potent." She said  
"It's amassing." Cobra said, Lucy blushed.  
"I just want to be able to protect my family and friends. I was never able to do that when I was a kid. I was always the one being protected and taken care of. People just didn't trust me to take care of myself or others." She said  
"Why not?" Cobra asked, lying down beside her.  
"I don't know. But I have never had a large body, always looked weak so they might have judged because of that and because of that never given me the chance to grow stronger. And it became worse after my mom died." Lucy said  
"Still, that's wrong." Cobra said, Lucy nodded.  
"I know. But there is nothing I can do abut that now, except train to get stronger now instead." She said, giving him a bright smile. He returned it. They stayed lying on the grass for an other half hour before going back inside to see if the others were awake and ready to go.

A couple of hours later found them at train station, waiting for the next train that would take them to the town Sabertooth was located in. Angel was nervous about meeting her sister again after so long. The others tried to help her relax by talking about different topics.

When they arrived did they walk right in without knocking. The mages inside turned to look at them and smiled when they recognized Lucy.  
"Hey, Blondie, you're back." Sting shouted and came up to them. Lucy gave him a mock glare.  
"When are you going to realize that you too are blond, Stingy bee?" She asked  
"Hey! Don't call me that." He shouted. The rest of the guild laughed at him.  
"I will call you by name when you call me by mine." She said, then started walking towards the bar where Yukino stood. "Hi, Yukino. How are you?" She said as they reached her.  
"I'm fine. You?" Yukino said, giving her a smile while looking at the others with curiosity.  
"I'm fine. We just finished a mission. You remember Mira right?" Lucy said, Yukino nodded with a smile.  
"Of course, how have you been?" She said  
"I'm fine." Mira said  
"I was wondering if we could talk to you for a second in privet." Lucy said, Yukino nodded and they all walked to one of the back rooms.  
"What did you want to talk to me about?" She asked, Lucy gestured to Angel, who hesitated but lowered her hod. Yukino gasped.  
"This is Angel, or as you probably know her as, Sorano." Lucy said, Yukino's hands shot to her mouth and tears started running down her cheeks.  
"Big sis?" She asked, Angel nodded, a hesitant smile on her lips. Yukino threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around the older woman. "Big sis! I've missed you so much." She cried. Holding on as if she would disappear from in front of her eyes again.  
"I've missed you too, kid." Angel said, hugging her sister as well. The others smiled and lowered their hods as well. When both women had calmed down somewhat Lucy said.  
"I told you she would be happy to see you." Angel smiled at her and nodded.  
"You two know each other?" Yukino asked, the others laughed slightly.  
"You could say that. We have known each other for nearly nine years, at least it's that long for me, for her it's only been a little bit more then year and a half since she and some of her guild mates skipped seven years." Angel said  
"So, you knew her when we talked during the eclipse thing?" Yukino asked Lucy. She nodded.  
"Yea, I just didn't know it was her you were talking about." Lucy said  
"It wouldn't have made much difference at that time, since I was in jail." Angel said with a rye smile.  
"You were in jail? What for?" Yukino asked  
"I was part of a dark guild before, and was in jail because the council caught me and the others. Then, about half a year ago we escaped and has now been cleared and is free." Angel said  
"Most of the ones you see with us was part of the same guild, except for me, Mira, Jellal and Meredy." Lucy said  
"You guys was also in that dark guild?" Yukino asked, the others nodded.  
"It was Lucy, Natsu, Erza, Gray and a few others that caused us to get caught by the council." Angel said  
"What?" Yukino asked, staring at Lucy, she nodded with a shrug.  
"They deserved it back then." She said, The others nodded.  
"We did, didn't we. I can't believe you forgave us for what we did, especially me. I tried to kill you." Angel said  
"Wait what?" Yukino asked, shocked.  
"Yea, me and Lucy battled and I tried to kill her. I was a celestial mage back then, and was a real bitch too. But Lucy beat me." Angel laughed  
"Wow. You guys have to tell me about that fight later." Yukino said, the two women nodded. Tho Angel was a little bit hesitant about it. She didn't want her sister to know just how bad she had been.

They sat down at the bar and continued to talk, Sting, Rouge, Orga and Rufus came up to them to see what was going on. And Hana Reed, their guild master, came over for a short time to see who the new ones were.  
When the day ended was Yukino sad that her sister was leaving but Angel promised that she would come by now and then to see her. She refused to lose contact with her baby sister again. The others smiled as the sisters hugged one last time before they left. When they sat on the train Lucy said.  
"So, wasn't as bad as you thought, was it?" Angel blushed and shook her head.  
"I'm glad I came here today." She said, the others smiled.  
"Good. Next time it won't be so hard to go and see her." Mira said, Angel nodded.  
"So, what happens now?" Jellal asked, the others shrugged.  
"We should probably get back to the guild and report to master about the mission." Lucy said  
"Okay. Contact us again if you want to do an other mission again. This was fun." Jellal said. The others nodded.  
"We will do so. And you guys are always welcome to visit or contact us if you want help with a mission as well." Mira said  
"Will do so. See you around." Midnight said as he and his guild mates got off a few stops before the girls. They waved and said their own good byes.

END OF CHAPTER 8


	9. Chapter 9 - S-class

Here is chapter 2/2 that I post today =D

And so on to the story =D

Chapter 9 - S-class

Lucy POV  
I opened my eyes and grinned. Today would be the first day that I was going to go on an S-class mission for the first time as an S-class mage, not just with Mira who is a S-class, but as an actual S-class myself. The exam had been the day before and I had been the one to pass, even if it was just barley. Gajeel had nearly beaten me.

~Flashback~  
I ran though the forest. I had to get to the finish line to win. I jumped over a fallen tree and saw the goal. But I also heard someone running behind me, and by the feel of the magic it was Gajeel. I gritted my teeth and pushed myself forward. We had been running for over 24 hours now. The track had been long and hard, but all the running around in mountains and marshes searching for bandits, wyverns and other creatures was helping. And the training I had done with Mira to strengthen my already strong kick had also helped. But I knew that I would never be able to beat Gajeel in the long run, no pun intended, he was much stronger then I was. But I was determined to win this so when I was only a few meters away from the goal and Gajeel was nearly running side by side with me did I push off and leap forward. I must have surprised Gajeel because he stumbled, then I landed on the other side of the finish line, before Gajeel, I stumbled and fell to the ground, my breath ragged as I tried to pull in air. I looked up as I heard Mira squeal in happiness. I smiled at her. She threw herself at me and hugged me.  
"You did it. You managed to pull through to the very end. I'm so proud of you." She screamed while laughing. I laughed along with her, damned proud of myself. I had just survived nearly two whole weeks of hard tests. First we had to get through a labyrinth filled with tricky questions, a few obstacles as well as all the S-class mages and that took nearly four days, then we had to show our survival skills, we had to survive in a forest for an entire week without any outside help, or magic. Luckily Mira and Virgo had thought me all I needed to know while we had been out on our missions, then it was this long run, we had three days to get from point A to point B, and we had to find certain check points between the two points. I looked up as a hand landed on my shoulder.  
"Well done, Bunny." Gajeel said, I grinned up at him.  
"You too." I said, he nodded and went to sit down at a table to get something to eat, he looked nearly as exhausted as I felt, but he probably looked less exhausted then I do.  
Mira helped me stand up and move over to the same table as Gajeel and then waited for Mira to get me some soup, I smiled at her in thanks as she gave me a extra large bowl and a couple of slices of bread with cheese and ham on. She then went and put an even larger portion in front of Gajeel with iron on the side. After having eaten in silence I motioned to Mira that I would crawl in to the tent and sleep. She nodded.  
I woke a few hours later and heard shouting. I stuck my head out of my tent and rubbed my eyes free of sleep to see what the commotion was all about.  
"What do you mean I wasn't first? Of course I was." My former partner screamed, staring at master. I growled. The bastard had interrupted my sleep like this just because he wasn't first. I stomped out of my tent and over to him. I lifted my hand and smacked him, hard, in the back of his head.  
"You idiot. Can't you keep your mouth shut? Some of us are trying to sleep here." I said in a low voice that carried to everyone around us. Natsu stared at me.  
"Where the hell did you come from?" He asked  
"From my tent obviously. I have been here for a few hours already." I hissed  
"No way. You must have quit half way through the race, there is no way a weakling like you could get here before me." He screamed  
"She didn't just get here before you, she got here first." Gajeel said as he came over to us from his own tent, dressed in a pair of lose pants and a rumpled shirt, he looked like he just gotten out of his own bedroll, which he probably did.  
"What? There is no way, she must have cheated some how." Natsu shouted  
"What's the screaming about, Juvia is trying to sleep here." Juvia said behind Gajeel, she must have gotten here before Natsu.  
"Flame brain can't accept that Bunny got here first, he thinks she cheated, which is bullshit as we all know, she would never cheat in a situation like this." Gajeel growled, Juvia scowled.  
"You woke Juvia from her sleep just because you can't accept that someone else is better then you?" She asked, then she used her 'Water lock' on him until he passed out. She then turned on her heal and stalked back to her own tent. "Don't wake Juvia again with this nonsense. Master, please make sure that idiot don't wake anyone else, or Juvia will have to deal with him again." She said before disappearing in to her tent. I had to put a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Master groaned.  
"Well, I won't be able to fall asleep again after this. Is it possible to get something to eat? I'm hungry." I said, master nodded.  
"Mira is fixing dinner right now, it will be done shortly." He said and picked Natsu up and put him down under one of the trees. As I walked passed him on my way to see Mira I patted his head.  
"I would do as Juvia said, she is just like me, hates being woken before she has slept enough after something like this or when she has used a lot of magic." I said, he nodded.  
"Yea, I know. Go see Mira, she has been gushing over you ever since you got here. As soon as everyone is back I will announce who passed the exam." He said, I nodded and left.  
When I got to the cooking aria Mira, Erza, Gildarts and Laxus sat there, talking, tho it looked more like Mira and Laxus was arguing with Erza about something.  
"No way master is going to chose Lucy as the one that passed, she isn't strong enough." Erza said, my hands turned to fists and I scowled.  
"I think she has a better chance then most of the others." Laxus said  
"Yea, you should have seen how beat up the master of one of the dark guilds we were after, you should have seen how beat up he was after she was done with him. Not even Jellal could do anything against him." Mira said, her hands clasped before her. I smiled and walked over to them.  
"Hi guys, what are you talking about?" I asked  
"You actually. Both me and Laxus think that you might have a big chance of passing the trials this year." Mira said, smiling at me. I beamed at her.  
"I hope so. I'm looking forward to going on more S-class missions with you." I said, Mira nodded.  
"And if you pass we can go on harder ones then the ones we have gone on so far." She said, I nodded and sat down beside her.  
"What did you mean with that she managed to take out a dark guilds master when not even Jellal could?" Erza asked, I looked at Mira and raised my eyebrow in question, pretending not to have heard what they had said before, tho Laxus probably knew I had heard.  
"I mentioned the fight we had against 'Black Widow' when you took out their master." Mira said, I nodded.  
"Well?" Erza asked, I sighed.  
"Why do you care? You haven't in the last few months, except for when you try to make me feel small and worthless by telling me I'm too weak. So why start asking about the missions I go on now?" I asked her  
"That wasn't what I was trying to do." Erza said, I raised an eyebrow.  
"Oh? Then what were you trying to do? Because telling someone they are too weak to go on missions and that they should stop pretending to be strong doesn't result in anything but making them feel weak, worthless, useless and pathetic." I said, Erza flinched with every negative feeling I named.  
"I wanted you to be safer. We had gotten so many hard requests after the GMG that I was worried about you. You don't have the experience we do, so it was more dangerous for you then us. I just didn't want to see you get hurt again, like with Minerva during the Naval Battle." She said, I frowned.  
"Well, you failed, big time. If you just wanted me to become stronger to be able to stay safe, you should have let me do more during missions and let me train between missions. Instead you took over my fights at the smallest indicator it would make me sweat, and you dragged me of to do things between missions or became sad and depressed when I tried to tell you that I wanted train my own way instead of your way. The way you train doesn't work for me since we have such different fighting styles. It's your fault I didn't get stronger when on your team. You tried to protect me from everything. But I'm a mage of Fairy Tail, I can protect myself, and others. I don't want you to do that for me all the time. Because that just shows that you believe that my presence in the guild is a useless one." I said, barley stopping to take a breath during my whole speech. Erza had grown paler and paler with every sentence I spoke, with every verbal punch to the gut. She stared at me, tears in her eyes.  
"I didn't know. I didn't mean to." She said, I shook my head.  
"It doesn't matter. You didn't even try to see things from my point of view, none of you did." I said, then I turned to Mira and took a deep breath. "So, what will there be for dinner? And who except for Natsu and Juvia has gotten here while me and Gajeel slept?" I asked  
"I'm making stew. It will be done in just a few minutes. And they are the only ones that has arrived. But master said that Gray and Freed are pretty close, so they will soon arrive. Then there is Elfman a bit after them and Cana shortly after him. And Levy is last." She said, I nodded.  
"Well, I'm not surprised Juvia got here so fast. She is a former S-class from Phantom after all. And Natsu is Natsu." I said, Erza scowled.  
"You aren't surprised Juvia came before Natsu?" She asked, I shook my head.  
"No. When Juvia concentrate and becomes serious she is a force to be reckoned with." I said with a shrug. Just then sat Mira down a bowl of food in front of me. I smiled at her. "Thanks. This smells great." I said and started eating.

After everyone had arrived and slept for a few hours master was going to tell us who it was that had passed.  
"And based on performance in all three testes the person who has passed is, Lucy Heartfilia." He said, smiling at me. I stared at him, then a huge smile split my face and I gave a shout of joy, beating the air with my fist. I had done it. I had managed to become S-class. Mira squealed an threw her arms around me. I laughed and hugged her back. My other guild mates congratulated me before we returned to the ship so we could go back to the guild. The only one that didn't congratulate me was Natsu. He just scowled and muttered that he deserved it more. I ignored him and smiled with my friends.  
~ Flashback end ~

I met up with Mira at the guild and together we walked over to the S-class mission board. We looked it over before deciding on a monster slaying mission. We waved good bye to Lisanna before leaving for the station.

~ Time skip ~ after the mission is over and the reward collected ~ Nobodys POV  
The two women walked through the forest, Lucy supported by Mira.  
"Damn, I shouldn't have summoned both of the demons at the same time. My legs feels like over cooked noodles." Lucy said, Mira laughed.  
"But that was amazing. I have never seen anything like those two working together." She said, Lucy nodded.  
"Yea. I was in awe of their power, and that wasn't even their full power." The blond said with a proud smile. Mira looked at her in awe.  
"That is just, I don't know. Wow." She said, Lucy nodded.  
"Yea, so the more power I have the more they have." She said.  
The mission had been harder then they had calculated, until they got help from Bacchus who had been on his way home from an other mission. And between him, Mira and Lucy's two Hell spirits they had managed to destroy the monster that had terrorized the mountains for a few months. Bacchus was going in the opposite direction from them so they said good bye in the town.  
"I'm looking forward to getting back to the guild now. And to take it easy for a few days." Mira said, Lucy nodded.  
"Yea. Maybe I can start looking for a new place to live when we get back." Lucy said  
"Yea, same here. We both have more then enough to get bigger places." Mira said, and before Lucy could answer came an explosion behind them. The shock wave sent they flying forward. They landed on their sides but was soon up on their feet. Mira in her 'Satan Soul' and Lucy with Loki's key in one hand and her Fleuve d'etoiles in her other hand. She just hoped that she had enough magic left to summon him. Before the dust settled the mages were on them. Lucy managed to summon Loki but felt she wouldn't be able to keep his gate open for long. Her whip arched through the air, throwing her attackers away from her, but they just kept coming. There was no end to them. Then she felt Loki return and there was even more of them. She had gotten separated from Mira early in the fight and wasn't sure how the Take Over mage was doing.

Mira fought back opponent after opponent, and just like Lucy had she problems. Her leg had been hurt pretty badly in the fight with the monster and when she landed. She tried to get closer to her partner but was forced back every time. Then she heard someone scream.  
"Okay, we have the blond. Lets go." She felt dread set in the pit of her stomach.  
"Lucy!" She screamed, but a new explosion kept her from hearing any responds that Lucy might have given. When the air cleared was everyone gone, including Lucy. Mira screamed her name again. Hoping her friend was close enough to answer. But all that answered her was the silence of the forest. Her knees buckled, and she landed hard on the ground. At first she couldn't even move, then she grabbed for her bag and her comm. lacrima. "Fairy Tails masters office." She said. It didn't take long before someone answered. It was Laxus.  
"Mira, what happened?" He asked as soon as he saw her.  
"We were attacked on our way back from the mission. It was dark mages. Laxus, they took Lucy. I couldn't do anything. And I have no idea of where they went." She said, tears streaming down her face. Laxus paled.  
"Where are you?" Laxus asked  
"In xx forest. Just a days travel from the town our request was in." She explained  
"Okay. I'm going to grab as many as I can from here and come to you. Are you hurt?" The blond man asked, Mira nodded.  
"My leg got hurt in the fight with the monster and then the explosion they used first." She said  
"Okay, I will take Wendy with me as well then. Hang on tight. We will be there soon." He said, Mira gave him a grateful smile and nodded.  
"I'm going to contact Jellal and his guild mates as well. They are very close to Lucy." She said  
"Do that. We might need their help." Laxus said before the screen went white. Mira took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She couldn't allow herself to become hysteric right now. Lucy needed her to stay clam and to contact anyone who could and would help. Then she contacted Jellal and told him what had happened and he promised that they would come as soon as was possible. Luckily they were pretty close, and he could use his meteor and get them all there within a few minutes.

~ With Lucy ~  
Lucy opened her eyes only to find herself in a torch lit room, her keys hanging in front of her, some weird purple substance covering them.  
"Do you like it? My home made cocktail to keep your spirits from coming out on their own." A male voice said to her right. She turned her head and saw a well built man in his late forties. He grinned at her, then looked her up and down. "I'm sure my boys will enjoy everything you have to offer them with that body of yours. And all the while you will know that your guild mates can't do anything to help you and that your spirits will have to watch as we break you, body, soul and mind." He grinned.  
"I will never break. Why are you doing this?" Lucy asked.  
"Oh, you will break. Sooner or later, they all do. And when you do we will send your dead, broken body back to your guild. And they will know exactly who broke and killed their light." The man said laughing a cold, dark laugh, then he turned and started walking away, saying over his shoulder. "Do whatever you want with her boys. Just make sure she is conscious to know what you are doing." Then a door slammed shut. And five men walked in to her sight. Grinning as they took out knives and a whip.  
Not even a minute later was her screams of pain echoing through the hallways of the dark guild.

END OF CHAPTER 9


	10. Chapter 10 - Idiocy

Thank you all for your reviews they really made my day when I read them and I smiled all day after.

Chapter 10 - Idiocy

Cobra POV  
I was running through a mountain passage, searching for any sound or smell that showed Lucy was there or had been there. It had now been eight days since Mira called us and we started to search for our blond friend. I could easily count the hours I had slept since we started searching. But no matter where I went I couldn't hear anything that had with her to do, except for my friends thoughts at the edges of my hearing, as well as their desperate shouts for her. Fairy Tail had called every guild they knew to ask for help in the search, and all of them had answered and sent out their own people to search. And yet no one could find her.

~ Time skip ~ 4 more days, 12 days since she was taken ~ Nobodys POV  
Lucy hung from her chains, her body beaten and bloody. She didn't know how long she had been hanging there, all she knew was the pain, and her keys frustration, anger and sorrow that they haven't been able to break thru their gates. Loki and Aquarius had nearly succeeded a couple of times as had the two demons, but the gates had slammed shut before they had managed to get thru. She didn't know how many times the men had whipped, beaten and cut in to her skin since she had been hung up where she was. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer, and the only thing that kept her from going insane was the feeling of her keys close by and the knowledge that Mira and her other friends were most likely out looking for her, she couldn't give up, not when there were people who cared if she came back alive or not. She saw a red light lit the room as Asmodeus tried to get thru his own gate again and once again fail, she felt his rage at the people hurting her, and it helped her, knowing they did everything they could to break through to get to her.  
"So, how is our pretty little girl doing?" A voice said, a voice she now recognized as the dark guilds masters voice. She lifted her head and gave him a glare. There was no way she would let him think that he had nearly managed to break her.  
"Why don't you go fuck yourself?" She said and spat in his face. His eyes darkened with rage and he lifted his hand and back handed her. Her head snapped to the side.  
"Boys. Give her your worst. Just make sure she survive. Her life is mine to take." He said , his voice shook with rage, and then started to leave. But before he could leave a bright light lit the room and black cloud like things appeared all over the room, hitting the dark mages that was in the room with them and exploding on impact. "What the hell is going on here?" The master screamed. Trying to locate where the attack came from. His eyes landed on a golden key, glowing with a bright, golden light, that for all its brightness seemed ominous. Below the key stood a woman dressed in a fluffy black dress, her eyes red and glowing with hate. As the light died down Lucy's head fell forward and she lost consciousness, knowing that one of her spirits had finally managed to get thru their gate and would get her out of there. One last word passed her lips before everything went black for her, one name.  
"Aries." Then her eyes fell closed. And Aries, the most timid of her spirits nodded once, then turned towards the dark guild master, death in her eyes as she lifted her hands and black wool left them and flew towards the man. The wool exploded as soon as it made contact with him. He screamed in pain as he flew through the air before slamming in to the wall and passing out. Aries turned and grabbed all the others keys as well before pulling her own down and running towards her unconscious master and friend. Her wool made quick work of the chains that held her. She caught her and then used her wool and blasted every wall and person that got in her way. Showing no mercy for the ones that had had a hand in hurting the first master in a very, very long time that actually cared about her and all the other spirits out there. As soon as she got them out in to the fresh air she turned and sent a huge amount of wool, so dark red it was nearly black, down the way she had come, spreading it so it cowered every nook, cranny and person inside of the dark guilds hideout. Then she turned and ran down the mountain side and towards a forest a bit away. As soon as she had gotten a safe distance away she made the wool explode. Taking out the entire mountain the dark guild was located in. Along with every mage inside it. She ran until she found a clearing in the forest where there was a small pond before she put her master down on a mattress made of her pink wool. She then started to clean her wounds, with the help of the water from the pond and her own wool. After Lucy had been seen to and covered with a blanket of pink wool she went in to the pond and started to clean the others keys, using her wool again to get all the sticky mess off of them. She started with Virgo's so she could take care of Lucy's wounds better and get some light clothing for her. Then she took Aquarius key, and so on. Until all of them were clean. And every spirit and demon that could open their own gate had come out to check on their friend and master, pulling the ones that couldn't with them. Loki, Aquarius, Virgo, Asmodeus and Mammon was the only ones that stayed for more then a check.  
"Aries, how did you manage to break thru?" Aquarius asked the ram, Aries nodded, not surprised at the question.  
"I used my wool to push away the mess that kept us from opening our gates. I had somehow managed to get a small amount of it out thru my gate when I tried to open it, and I just multiplied it, the problem was that it took so long. If only I could have worked faster, I could have kept her from being hurt more." The ram said, fisting her hands tightly.  
"You did great. After all, you manage what the rest of us didn't manage. You managed to find a way to get thru and help her. The rest of us couldn't, not even when we used our full powers." Mammon said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Aries nodded again, not looking away from their blond master.  
"One of us should go contact Fairy Tail and tell them she is safe. They are probably looking for her right now." Loki said, the others nodded, but no one moved.  
"Loki, you go. They know you the best." Aries said  
"But I want to stay by my princess side." He wined. Aries glared at him.  
"So do all of us. Now go. The faster you tell them the faster you can get back here." Aries snapped, forgotten was her fear of not being good enough. Instead she was filled with a determination to do whatever she had to do to keep her friend safe.  
"Fine." The lion said and was about to leave when Virgo said.  
"Don't get all of them. Just, Mira, Wendy, Laxus, his team and Crime Sorcière. And inform Master Makarov that she is safe." Virgo said, Loki nodded and took out a comm. lacrima he had left since his days as a ring mage of the guild. He contacted Mira first since she is his masters partner.  
"Yes?" She answered, she looked like she hadn't slept in days and had a haunted look in her eyes, made worse by her being in her Satan Soul form. Loki could see the landscape whiz by as she flew.  
"Mira, it's Loki. Lucy is safe." He said, Mira's eyes widened.  
"Where is she?" She asked, stopping in midair.  
"The forest to the south of mount Machi. There is a small pond where we are. I will send up a signal when I sense you close. Where are you?" Loki said, Mira swore.  
"I'm near mount Hakube. I will get there as fast as I can." She said, Loki nodded.  
"Don't tell anyone else where she is. I will contact Wendy, Laxus and his team as well as Crime Sorcière and tell them, then inform master that she is safe. But we don't want more here when she wakes up." Loki said, Mira nodded.  
"What did they do to her?" Mira asked as she flew in an other direction, straight towards where Lucy and the others was.  
"They tortured her, in an attempt to break her." Loki said, Mira growled and sped up.  
"I will be there soon." She said, her teeth clenched. Loki nodded and they ended the call. He then called the others and told them the same things he had told Mira. They promised to be there as fast as they could. Luckily it was Wendy and Carla that was the closest. Unluckily, she was with team Natsu, and they refused to stay behind, they were coming too. As he ended the call Loki swore. Then he returned to the spirit world and grabbed Gemini. As soon as they were back on Earthland he said.  
"I need you to transform in to Freed and put up runes around this clearing so that Natsu, Happy, Erza and Gray can't enter. They refused to stay away until we know how badly she is hurt, saying no one can do more for her then they can." Gemini nodded and quickly did as Loki said. They then walked over to Lucy and turned in to Wendy. They took care of some of the most urgent damage.  
"We can't heal more, since we don't have the power for it. Sorry." They said, bowing their heads as they returned to their normal forms.  
"It's okay. At least you could do something." Virgo said, using a piece of Aries wool to wipe the sweat from Lucy's forehead.  
"If only she had been contracted to Leviathan. He is a okay healer. Not the best, but he could have done something for her." Mammon said, Asmodeus nodded.  
"Or phoenix. She is a great healer with few, if any, equal." Gemini said, the other spirits nodded. "We are going back now." The twins said and left. Just then Wendy landed between them and something hit the runes Gemini had put up.  
"Lucy!" The young slayer screamed and ran over to her friend. The spirits and demons moved to give her more room to work. Her hands had started glowing before she was even beside the older mage. She concentrated so hard on what she was doing she never noticed Natsu and the others screaming to be let in. Loki and Aquarius walked/floated over to the barrier.  
"Let us in. Luce needs us." Natsu screamed  
"No. She needs those that that cares about her and believes in her, not belittle her or are looking down on her powers." Loki said, his voice cold.  
"We care." Erza screamed  
"No. You. Do. Not. Care." Aquarius hissed at the other woman. Rage in her eyes. "Because if you had cared you wouldn't have said the things you have. You wouldn't have made her feel disliked, alone, in the way, unimportant and everything else her father also made her feel. You are no better then that old fool in the way you treated her. You pushed her down when a real friend who cares would have lifted her up." The mermaid said, the rage seeping in to her voice and aura. The three took a step back.  
"What about me? I didn't tell her any of the things they did." Happy said  
"No, but you didn't say anything against them either." Loki said, his eyes filled with disappointment. Happy's head dropped and he landed on the ground.  
"Just let us in." Natsu screamed, just then lightning struck in front on him, forcing him back. Laxus and his team landed inside the barrier.  
"What are you doing here?" He asked, anger in his voice.  
"Luce needs us." Natsu repeated, banging his hand on the barrier. Laxus looked at Loki and Aquarius with a raised eyebrow.  
"They were with Wendy when I contacted her. And they refuse to leave, even when told that only the ones closest to Lucy, and not even all of them are allowed to come. They believe that despite what they have done to her they are the people closest to her and the ones Lucy would want around her." Loki said, Laxus growled.  
"Leave. You aren't wanted nor are you allowed inside here. Blondie would never want you to be anywhere near her when she is vulnerable. You have proved too often that you are untrustworthy. So either you leave or I will force you to." Laxus said, lightning sparking around his body.  
"You can't force us. We are stronger then you." Erza said, her voice holding promise of pain if she wasn't let in.  
"I won't have to do anything. All I have to do is call gramps and tell him you are going against what Blondie's spirits are saying regarding her safety and then he will take care of you. Plus, have you forgotten what she told you during the exam?" Laxus said, looking at Erza as he said the last, she flinched, paling slightly.  
"As if that would help." Gray said  
"It would." Loki said. "Master gave me highest authority regarding this. He said that only those who I approved of was allowed close to Lucy." He said, smirking at the three outside the barrier. Happy was still sitting on the ground, tears running down his face, he stared at his front paws.  
"As if! Gramps would never allow something like this." Natsu screamed, but Erza and Gray was hesitating. Makarov might do that, if it was for the sake of one of his brats.  
"Natsu, you idiot!" Happy suddenly screamed and flew up so he was at eye level with the others and glared at them, tears still running down his face. "If none of you three had treated Lushy as if she was weak and couldn't do anything for herself we wouldn't be here now. Lushy has never been weak, she has always been strong, but unlike all of you she was never given the chance to gain experience since you three always took her work, saying she was too slow or that it was too dangerous. You never let her grow. Loki, Laxus and Aquarius is right. You don't deserve to go and see her now, or before she herself say she wants you there. But I doubt she will ever want you close again for how you have made her feel and with how you treated her. I wasn't there when you kicked her off the team and I couldn't believe that you had done that. You are even worse then Sabertooth was before they changed. At least they never pretended to care. They were upfront with not wanting someone weaker then them on their teams, nor kicking them out after having made someone think they care and are their friends. You are the worst." He screamed, tears streaming down his face, faster and faster with every sentence.  
"Happy." Natsu said, shocked. He stretched out a hand to touch his friend. But Happy flew backwards, swiping with his claws as Natsu's hand.  
"Don't touch me. How could you treat her like that? You knew better then anyone else how much she hates being alone, yet you forced her to be alone before _they_ took her in." He screamed, pointing at Laxus and his team. "They, Mira, Levy, Gajeel, hell, even Jellal and his guild mates, including Cobra and the others, have treated her better then you three." He glared at them one more time before turning to Loki and the others. He bowed slightly and said. "Please tell Lushy that I'm sorry for not speaking up for her, not doing more then I did." He said, Loki nodded.  
"I will." He said, Happy nodded and flew up in to the air and flew away.  
"Happy! Where are you going?" Natsu shouted after him, holding his bleeding hand that Happy had scratched.  
"I'm going back to the guild to tell master that you are too inconsiderate to leave Lushy alone. And that I hope he will punish all three of you for this." The small cat shouted back before he sped up.  
"If you don't want Happy to get to the guild first you better hurry. Or gramps might give you something worse then _that_ punishment." Bixlow said, sticking his tongue out, the three outside the barrier looked at each other then glared at the ones inside it before they started to run after Happy.  
"Happy, wait up. Why are you doing this?" Natsu screamed, but Happy didn't answer, he just sped up even more, using his max speed.  
Inside the barrier the others looked after them in slight shock, then Laxus laughed slightly.  
"Who knew that little guy had it in him?" He said, the others nodded.  
"Well, I'm going to contact master and tell him what happened in case they manage to get there before Happy." Loki said  
"Good. But first. How is Blondie?" Laxus said  
"I will tell them, you call Makarov." Aquarius said, Loki nodded and walked of a bit before contacting Makarov to tell him what had happened. Laxus looked at Aquarius with a raised eyebrow, she motioned for them to follow and said. "She will live, and Wendy is seeing to her wounds right now. But the real problem is how much they managed to damage her mind. They used a weird spell called 'Dark Dream', and from what we could understand of what they said and what Crux managed to find out, it is a spell that forces a person to live through their worst nightmares and fears. And they used it at least once a day on her." Aquarius said, hugging herself around her stomach. The others paled.  
"I have headed about that spell. It's classified as a forbidden spell, and not even many dark mages would even think of using it because of how it destroys the targets mind if it's used too much, and too much can be anything from a minute to a few hours." Freed said, Aquarius nodded.  
"And they used it for an hour everyday. And they used it twice in one day once." The mermaid said, the others shuddered.  
"I hope she will be okay." Evergreen said  
"With time I'm sure she will. Cosplayer is tough. And with all our support she will make it. After all, she never let her father break her, so she won't let this break her either." Bixlow said, the others nodded. Not long after Loki was done talking to Makarov came Mira flying down, she had felt Wendy's magic working. And a few minutes after her came Crime Sorcière. All of them looked ragged and as if they haven't slept since they learned Lucy had gone missing. All of them asked the same question as soon as they arrived.  
"Is she okay?"  
And the others answered the same thing every time.  
"Physically, yes. Mentally, we don't know."

Cobra POV  
 _Why? Why her? Why did it have to be her they attacked and hurt?_ My mind screamed as I looked at her still form. _If only I could hear her thoughts like I can everyone else I could have had maybe an idea of what she went through and could maybe help her better._ I thought. While I had been running around, looking for the smallest trace of her had I realized that I wasn't just interested in her. I had fallen in love with the happy blond who forgave most anything and anyone. I missed her smile, her laugh and her warm eyes. How she made me feel like I was the only person she saw. She made me want to be better, be more some how, even if i didn't know in what way. But I already knew that someone like her, someone that was called the light of her guild was not for me. Not with my ragged and spotty past. I didn't belong in her bright world. But despite knowing all this I couldn't stop myself form loving her more and more with every time I saw her, every time she smiled at me. I fisted my hands. Deciding that no matter what, I would make sure she smiled like she used to. That I wouldn't let whatever was done to her break her.  
"How are you holding up?" A soft voice asked beside me. I looked down and saw the pink haired sheep standing there, her eyes never leaving Lucy's form.  
"I've been better." I said, my voice as soft. I doubted anyone there, except maybe the other two slayers, could hear us. The sheep nodded but stayed silent. "And you, how are you holding up?" I asked, she looked up at me, surprise in her eyes. Then she looked back at Lucy.  
"I'll be fine as soon as Hime wakes up and we know she will be okay." She said, I nodded.  
After a while we all sat down beside the fluffy wool that Lucy rested on.  
"What happened to the ones that kidnapped her? I want to go after them, so Lucy don't have to worry about them." Mira said  
"I wouldn't recommend that you go after them. Hime would be very sad when she wakes up if you do." Aries said  
"Are you saying she wouldn't want us to take revenge for what happened to her?" Angel asked, anger in her voice. Aries shook her head.  
"No. But the ones that hurt Hime is dead. So if you were to go after them you would have to die as well. And that would make Hime very sad." She explained. We all, except for the spirits and demons, stared at her.  
"How do you know they are dead?" Jellal asked, Aries smiled at him. A smile that reminded me, and everyone else, of a shark, just before it's going to eat you.  
"I know because it was I who killed them. I used my wool to blast them to pieces." She said in a matter of fact tone and with that shark like smile still on her face, Mira smiled.  
"Good. I just hope all of them were there." She said, Aries shrugged.  
"I destroyed the whole mountain that the guild was located in, and killed everyone inside it. So as long as they were inside they are dead." She said  
"There wasn't any other hostage or captive there, right?" Laxus asked, Aries shook her head.  
"Everyone that was killed had the dark guilds mark." She said  
"Then I don't see any problem with it." Laxus said with a pleased tone in his voice.  
"Except for that master won't like all the paper work that will come with destroying the mountain." Wendy said, the rest of us stared at her then laughed.  
"He will just have to live with it." Mira said gleefully, the rest of us nodded.  
"If they complain too much, send them to Aries, she will deal with them." Aquarius said, Loki smirked and nodded.

Nobodys POV  
The group stayed quiet for a while after that. All of them worried what they would do _if_ their friend didn't wake up, or if the dark mages had managed to break her mind.  
As night started to roll in Virgo set up three tents, one would be Lucy's, the other two would be the rests, one for the women and one for the men. And they decided that there would always be two people with Lucy while the others slept, in case she woke up.  
They all went to sleep late that night, with Mira taking the first shift together with Freed.  
"She will be okay, Mira." Freed said as he hugged her. She held on to his jacket and cried silently.  
"If only I had been stronger, or had gotten to her faster, I could have flown us away from there and she wouldn't have been taken." She whispered. Freed shook his head.  
"From what you told us, there was a lot of them. So there was nothing you could have done. Few in the guild would have been able to do anything. I think that Laxus and Gildarts are the only ones that would have been able to do anything. But that is only because they both are so powerful." He said, trying to sooth his girlfriend. She nodded, but tears was still trickling down her face.  
"I know, but that doesn't stop me from feeling like this." She said, Freed nodded.  
"Then all you have to do when Lucy has awoken is train harder. Lucy will might want to train with you. She might feel a bit down for letting herself be taken just like you are." He said, threading his fingers through her white hair. Mira looked up at him.  
"You think she still will want to team up with me?" She asked, Freed nodded.  
"I know she will." He said with a soft smile, Mira smiled back.  
"Thank you." She said, Freed just nodded.  
They stayed in the tent, sitting on the ground as they watched Lucy. Never once taking their eyes of her until Cobra, Cubellios and Angel came to take their shift so the others could rest.  
"Any change?" Angel asked, Mira shook her head.  
"No." She said, Cobra put a hand on her shoulder as she and Freed were about to leave.  
"Don't blame yourself, Lucy wouldn't want you to do that." He said, Mira smiled slightly and nodded.

Cobra and Angel sat down in quiet for the first few minutes before Angel said.  
"You care about her more then a friend, don't you." She didn't look at him, just stared at Lucy as if she hoped to wake the blond with just her will power. Cobra doing the same.  
"Yes, I just didn't realize it before she went missing." He said, his voice low.  
"Will you tell her?" Angel asked, Cobra sighed and stroked Cubellios head.  
"I don't know." He said  
"Why not?" Angel asked softly  
"With my past? I would be a fool to think that she would care like that for someone like me." He said, his voice low but harsh.  
"You don't know that. This is Lucy we are talking about. She won't care about who you once were, just about who you are now." Angel said, voice still low. Cobra shook his head.  
"I know, but I don't know if _I_ can over look what I have done and who I have been." He said  
"Aha. So that's the real reason." Angel said, Cobra just stayed quiet. Angel shook her head at him, her eyes never once leaving Lucy's body. "I think we all need to move past what we have done. I think it's time we do that, without feeling guilty for what we have done, or for wanting to be happy." She said.  
"I wonder if we really deserve to be happy." Cobra muttered, he hated feeling like this.  
"We do. Lucy helped me realize that when she took us to see Yukino. We might not have the best pasts, but we are still humans. And all humans deserve to be happy. As long as we don't fall back to our old way we have every right to be happy." Angel said, Cobra blinked.  
"Maybe you're right." He muttered, Angel smiled slightly.  
"I am." She said, conviction in her voice and thoughts. Cobra didn't answer.

The rest of the night passed in silence except for when Laxus and Bixlow came to start their shift.

The same happened the following day and night, with everyone there taking turns in keeping an eye on her during the night.

Lucy woke the following day with a scream that echoed through the forest and startled her friends in to motion. Her body was covered in sweat and she was shaking. She had sat up when she woke and was now holding her head between her hands. Crying as she shook. Mira reached her first.  
"Lucy!" She screamed, Lucy looked up, staring at her partner, fear in her eyes.  
"Mira?" She asked, Mira nodded and sat down beside the blond on the wool mattress, afraid of touching her.  
"Yes, I'm here. You are safe." She said, tears ran down Lucy's cheeks and she threw herself forward and hugged Mira, hard.  
"It's really you." She whispered  
"Of course I'm here. I have been so worried about you." Mira said, holding Lucy tightly to her. They sat there, just holding each other while Lucy cried, the others sat down around them, all of them wanting to stay close. After a while did Lucy sit up straight and look around. Her eyes landed on Aries and she smiled.  
"Aries, thank you." She said, holding out her hand to her. Aries smiled at her and came up to her, taking Lucy's hand and was immediately pulled in to a hug. "Thank you for getting me out of there." Lucy whispered. Aries returned the hug.  
"Anything for you." She said

After that Lucy learned how long she had been gone and how long she had been unconscious and what had happened during that time. She hugged all of them, one by one as thanks for all their help in trying to find her. And she growled when she heard what Natsu and the other two had done and smiled at what Happy had done.  
"I'm starting to get seriously tired of those three." Lucy muttered  
"Lucy, I don't really want to ask this, but I think someone have to. We have all noticed that you tense up now and then. So, how are you holding up?" Mira asked carefully. Lucy sighed and looked down on her hands.  
"When I was still held captive I was very close to my breaking point, the only thing that kept me sane was the presence of my keys, since I felt them and their emotions, and the knowledge that you were out there, most likely looking for me. I just couldn't give up when there were people who cared whether I came back alive or not. But now, now that I know I'm safe, I feel like breaking down in to small pieces from relief, and I just don't know if I can do that and still be able to put myself together as myself. Everything they did are so clear in my mind that it feels like I'm not really awake. I'm afraid that this is all just a dream, or an other spell they are using trying to break me." Lucy said  
"I can guarantee that this isn't a dream, nor is it a spell. It's all real, and you are safe." Laxus said, Lucy looked up at him with a small smile.  
"I guess it's just going to take me a while to realize that." She said, everyone nodded.  
"That is understandable. Just take your time and we will be here with you the whole time, helping you if you need it." Freed said, a hand on his girlfriends shoulder. The others nodded.  
"Thank you, all of you. You don't know what it means to me, to have all of you here with me." Lucy said, tears in her eyes. Her friends smiled back at her.  
"No problem Blondie. So, what do you want to do now?" Laxus said, Lucy hesitated, then said.  
"I want to train. So that something like this never happens again. I want to be strong enough that no matter what happens I will be able to protect myself and those around me. I don't want to end up drained after a mission." Lucy said, determination in her voice.  
"We will help you in any way you need." Laxus said  
"Thanks. But I don't want to keep you all way from doing missions. Won't that put you in a tough spot regarding rent and so on?" Lucy said, the others shook their heads.  
"I don't pay rent, and any bills that arrive can Lisanna and Elfman take care of until we are back." Mira said  
"Same here. And I don't get many bills and the few I do have will be taken care of when I get back." Laxus said  
"It's the same for us three as well." Freed said  
"We don't even have a home, so we have neither rent, nor bills to pay." Jellal said, making the others laugh.  
"You guys, thanks." Lucy said, smiling at them.  
"Will you be able to go to the guild before we go training, so gramps and the others can see that you are safe?" Laxus asked, Lucy bit her lip, then shook her head.  
"I'm not so sure. I'm still not convinced that this isn't a dream. And that many people at the same time. No, don't think I could handle it." She said, looking down at her hands, Laxus nodded.  
"Then I will call him and tell him that you are awake and that all of us is going training." The older blond said and stood up. He walked a bit away and called Makarov.  
"I'm going to call the council and tell them that we won't be back just yet." Jellal said and walked of a bit to call them.  
Lucy looked around at the others.  
"It's okay. We will help as well, Hime." Aries said and sat down beside her master.  
"I know, you were there for me even when I was help captive, I could feel how you all tried to get thru, and how you all felt when I got hurt and when you failed to get thru. It helped a lot, knowing you all were that close. I'm not sure I would be here now if it wasn't for you all." Lucy said  
"Milady, if I may." Asmodeus said, Lucy looked at him and nodded. "I would suggest starting your training with trying to hold open one of our two gates for as long as you possibility can. And doing that every morning, and meditating afterward. As well as work on your physical strength so that your body can handle the amount of magic you will need to be able to keep our gates open for extended periods of time, milady." He said, Lucy smiled and nodded.  
"That sounds like a great idea." She said, Asmodeus nodded.

As the day passed the group left to go to a spot that Laxus sometimes use for training.

Makarov POV ~ just after Lucy had been rescued ~  
I sat behind my desk, doing paperwork when the lacrima started blinking, signaling that someone was calling me. I activated it and saw Loki.  
"Master, Lucy is safe." He said, my heart leaped with joy. "But she is very hurt, and we don't know how badly they managed to damage her mind." He said, and my heart sank.  
"Is she awake?" I asked, he shook his head.  
"No, but, master, I don't believe that it's good if too many are here when she wakes up, just in case. I have already called Mira, Laxus, his team, Crime Sorcière and Wendy. They are the only ones we will allow close to Lucy until she say otherwise." He said, I nodded.  
"Do as you see best. I give you permission to deal with anyone who won't listen as you see fit, or send them to me for punishment." I said, Loki and the others of Lucy's spirits knew her best and it was only right that they had the final say regarding Lucy's safety.  
"You might regret that one soon enough. Because when I called Wendy was Team Natsu there as well, and they refused to leave it alone and is coming here as well. And I will use any means necessary to keep them away from Lucy. Even if it means hurting them badly." Loki said, steel in his eyes, I closed my eyes in exasperation.  
"When will those three learn?" I muttered, shaking my head.  
"Anyway. Now you know the situation. I need to go." Loki said, I nodded.  
"Keep me posted on how she is doing, please." I said, Loki nodded and we ended the call. I smiled. Lucy was safe.  
I stood up and went to tell the good news to the few members that was in the guild and to contact the ones that was out looking for her.

~ when Lucy has woken up ~  
I sat once again in my office, writing letters of apology for all the destruction Natsu and the other two had done. I hadn't been pleased with how they acted, when they learned that Lucy had been found and had banned them from fighting missions because of it. It had already been two days since Lucy had been rescued. That's when my lacrima lit up.  
"Hello." I answered  
"Blondie is awake, gramps." Laxus said with a rare smile. I grinned.  
"That is great. How is she holding up?" I asked  
"Better then we feared, but not good." Laxus said, my heart sank slightly.  
"When will you return? I think everyone here would like to see her." I said, but Laxus shook his head.  
"I'm afraid we aren't coming back yet. Blondie don't think she could handle that many people. And I have to agree. She is shaking when too may of us who are here is too close, and sometimes she tenses up. If she went to the guild now, she might have a panic attack since they won't be able to stay at a distance, thinking it will be okay since they all love her. But what she need now isn't all that. She needs time to really believe that this isn't a dream, and to let her mind understand that she is free and safe. And it will take a while for her to get through everything they did to her." Laxus said, I nodded. I understood the logic, even if I wished I could say that everyone here in the guild would respect that she needed space I knew that they wouldn't.  
"Do you want me to send Levy, Gajeel and Lily over to you?" I asked, Laxus hesitated. "Levy is wreck right now with worry. And she and Lucy is best friends, and Gajeel has helped her a lot those months." I said, Laxus nodded.  
"Okay, send them over. Tell them to meet us at the place I use to train, you know where that is. Just don't tell anyone, and I mean anyone, where we are, except for those three. Natsu won't be able to stay away if he learns, Gray and Erza might be able, but I doubt it. They seemed to feel Aquarius words harder, and might actually think about what she said. But Natsu just don't get it, he don't understand that somethings that has been broken can't be fixed that easily." Laxus said, I nodded again. Natsu just didn't seem to be able to grow up.  
"Okay, when will you be there?" I asked  
"About four or five days from now, since we are too far from a town, we will have to walk all the way there." Laxus said, I smiled.  
"Good. I will inform them of that, and send them there, before I tell everyone that she is awake." I sad, Laxus smirked.  
"Good. I will call now and then and tell you how she is doing, and see if she can call herself some day soon." Laxus said, I got tears in my eyes.  
"Thanks, Laxus. Take care of everyone now." I said, he nodded.  
"Oh, I nearly forgot. There was a bit of trouble when Aries got Blondie out." He said, pausing before continuing. "She blew up a whole mountain, you know the small one beside mount Machi." Laxus said, my jaw dropped.  
"What? Wait, isn't Aries that ram that is so afraid of everything?" I asked, Laxus nodded.  
"She was, but not anymore. Loki said she snapped and turned in to her darker form. She is scarier then Aquarius when she glares at you. But it seems Blondie likes it." Laxus laughed, I smiled.  
"Now, what about the mountain?" I asked with dread.  
"Ah, yes. When she was getting Blondie out she blasted a way out, straight thru walls and people alike. Then, when they were out she filled the whole guild, which was located inside the mountain, with wool and ran. When she was a bit away she made all the wool explode. She said she did it to keep them from coming after Blondie again. And I can't say I disagree with her killing them all like that. The mountain, well, it was the home of a dark guild, so, well." Laxus said and shrugged. I cringed.  
"I just hope the council doesn't learn it was our doing." I said, Laxus shrugged again.  
"Aquarius said to send them to Aries if they complain too much." He said, I grinned and nodded.  
"I will do just that." I said. "Now I better go and get those three and send them on their way before telling the rest of the guild the good news." Laxus nodded and we ended the call. I sighed. _Poor Lucy, will she never catch a break from all the shit happening to her?_ I thought before going to get Levy, Gajeel and Lily to tell them where Lucy and the others would be in a few days.  
As the three of them walked in to my office Gajeel said.  
"Do we have to go on a mission now? We want to be here when Bunny gets back." His voice gruff  
"The mission part was just a way to make sure no one guesses where I'm going to send you. Lucy is awake, and before you say anything, she isn't coming back here just yet. She needs a lot of space, and some of our members won't accept that, they will think that just because they care about her it will be fine. But when I asked Laxus if I could send you or not he said I should, since you have been there for her when she needed it after what her former team did." I said, I saw Levy fight back tears as she nodded.  
"So, where is she?" Lily asked, so I told them about Laxus training spot, they nodded and left. I waited a few minutes after they had left before going out to tell the rest that our Lucy was awake.  
"Everyone, listen up!" I shouted, they all looked up at me. "Our Lucy is awake again, finally." I said with a big smile. They guild roared with joy.  
"When is she coming back?" Lisanna asked from the bar, the guild went quiet as I said.  
"Not yet. What the dark guild did to her was bad, and while she is in better shape then we feared she isn't well. So Mira, Laxus and a few others will stay with her and help her work through what happened to her, when she feels like she can handle it, and only then, will she and the others return." I said  
"Where are they? Luce needs us there for her." Natsu shouted, several of the others nodded.  
"I can't tell you where she and the others are." I said  
"Why not? Luce would never want to stay away from the guild like this." Natsu shouted in anger.  
"She is the one who said she didn't want to come back just yet. And we have to respect her wishes, especially since we don't know what was done to her." I said, quickly growing irritated with our resident fire mage. He was burning on the last straw. If he continued like this I would lose my temper at him.  
"No way! She would never want that." Natsu shouted, jumping up on a table, my eye twitched. I opened my mouth to say something harsh to him when he suddenly flew backwards. A large barrel, obviously still full, slammed him in to the wall. I turned to look at the person that had thrown it, expecting to see Cana, but instead I saw our youngest take over mage in her tigress form, her eyes filed with anger as she looked at her childhood friend.  
"Stop acting like spoiled brat! The way you have treated Lucy the last few months is disgusting. First you kick her of the team and calling her weak, then, when she proves that she is strong you want her back on the team as if nothing ever happened, and now, when she herself have said something you just dismiss it just because it doesn't fit how _you_ want things to be. You are a disgrace to this guild and what we stand for, you, Erza and Gray all are. You say you care, but the second things don't go as you want them you try to force a change that turns out as you want it. Lucy said she don't want to come home yet because she don't think she can handle it, so you should respect that, not try to force her in to doing something she don't want to." Lisanna said from where she stood on top of the bar, her voice low and deadly, she sounded so much like her older sister that I shook in my boots.  
No one said anything, just backed away from both her and Natsu as he sat up, staring at Lisanna.  
"What?" He said, sounding dazed.  
"Don't make yourself dumber then you are. It's past time you grow up and learn that you can't have everything in life. You lost not only Lucy's trust when you kicked her off the team, you also lost her friendship and you should see yourself as lucky if she ever want to talk to you again as more then someone she just happens to share a guild with." Lisanna hissed at him, then glared at Erza and Gray. "Anyone here who can't accept that Lucy needs space and tries to go and find her will be stopped by me, I don't care who it is, I will stop anyone who wish to disrespect Lucy like that." She said before turning around and jumping down behind the bar while turning back to her normal form. Everyone stared at her in shock before several of the members cheered and Romeo shouted.  
"Big sister Lucy is awake and working on getting through what happened to her. Lets show her our support by welcoming her home with big smiles and a party she will never forget when she comes back." The others cheered.  
"Aye!" The whole guild shouted with big smiles. I smiled down at them, and especially the younger fire mage. He had grown up a lot these last few months since Natsu and the other two had changed. I just knew he would become one of our best mages one day.

END OF CHAPTER 10


	11. Chapter 11 - Nightmare & Training

Chapter 11 - Nightmare & Training

Lucy POV  
I woke with a scream locked in my throat, again. It was four days since I had woken after Aries had saved me, and I still woke with sweat covering my body after some nightmare about what had happened to me. I hugged myself as I felt myself shake. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I felt humiliated and dirty. I had heard rape victims describe that was how they felt afterward, and I could understand what they meant, even if they hadn't raped me, they had still violated me with their intrusion in my mind when they dragged my worst nightmares and fears to the forefront and with how they had stripped me naked and whipped, beaten and cut me. I started to shake harder as the memories of what happened to me ran through my mind as if someone had started a movie and put it on repeat. Then I felt a pair of strong arms circle me from behind and pull me against a naked chest. At first I stiffened, but then I recognized the spicy scent of Cobra, a combination of sun kissed beach, honey and some exotic spice I couldn't name, and I relaxed in to his arms. A sob escaping as I turned around and buried my face against his shoulder. He didn't say anything just held me tighter to him and I hugged him back. I don't know how long I stayed there, crying against his shoulder as he just held me, giving me strength to move on, to face the coming day.

Cobra POV  
I woke to the sound of soft sobs, so soft that it would be inaudible to anyone else, maybe even the one crying. I sat up and looked around and my eyes fell on Lucy where she sat on her bed hugging herself. My heart clenched at the sight. And before I had even decided to do anything I found myself sitting down behind her and pulling her to me in a hug. I felt her stiffen and then relax against me before she turned around and hid her face against my shoulder and started to cry in earnest. I didn't say anything, there wasn't anything I could say that hadn't been said already, so I just hugged her tighter and let her cry it all out. We sat there, just holding each other as she cried while the sun rose above the horizon. After a while she stopped crying and sat up straight. She had a slight blush on her face as she said in a soft voice.  
"Thanks, and sorry." I shook my head.  
"It's okay. I just wish there was more I could do to help you keep the dreams away." I said in a equally soft voice. She gave me a small smile.  
"You being here helps a lot, knowing someone who cares is here, it helps more then I can say." She said, resting her head against my shoulder, her nose under my chin. I swallowed, if she knew just how much I cared about her she might push me away, not wanting someone like me to feel like this about her.  
"You have been there to help me and my guild mates so much, and have even reunited Angel with her kid sister, there is no way I wouldn't be here to help when you need the help." I said softly, afraid she would feel my racing heart. He scent made me want to just bury my nose in her hair and hug her close and never let go. She smelled so good. A combination of chocolate and fresh strawberries.

Lucy POV  
I felt Cobras arms tighten around me for a second before relaxing. I thanked all the stars in the sky that Asmodeus and Mammon shielded my thoughts just by being contracted to me. I don't want Cobra to push me away, just because I have feelings that go deeper then friendship. And I thank my training before I ran away, if not for my self control he would have smelt it on me a long time ago. How could I not be attracted to him, he is hot as hell. Not so mention a great guy with a sense of humor. I rubbed my nose against the underside of his shin and breathed in his scent. No matter what nightmares plagued my mind his scent always managed to chase them away, as if they knew he was the biggest and baddest predator here. I smiled to myself at the thought. That had been what I thought about him when the whole Nirvana fiasco happened, and now I thought it again, just in a different way. Back then we were enemies and now we were friends, even if I wanted more then that. I had known since just after that mission when we took out 'Black Widow', that he meant something more then a friend to me. I just hadn't dared voice it, barley even to myself.  
"The others are waking up. Shall we start with breakfast?" Cobra said, I nodded and sat up straight, his arms falling from around me and I already missed the safety they gave me.  
"That might be a good idea. Some of them are real grouches in the morning if there isn't coffee or tea ready." I said with humor, Cobra laughed a low laugh that made shivers go down my spine with how hot it sounded.  
"You got that right. I wouldn't want to be the one standing between Laxus and his coffee in the morning. He would fry me alive." He said, I nodded and smiled slightly, knowing that he was absolutely right.

Nobodys POV  
The two mages started making breakfast. The rest of the group noticed Lucy's red eyes but didn't say anything. They ate in silence, just enjoying the good food before they cleaned up around their campsite.  
"So, shall we go?" Laxus said, the others nodded and with Laxus leading the way they set out for their new training spot.

That night did they camp just a few hours travel from their destination. Everyone helping out with setting up the camp, or that was the idea. They all jumped around and in to their fighting stances when Freed, who was about to set up their tents, screamed. They all saw what had made them scream. There was a swirling mass in front of him, and when it stopped their tents stood there. Lucy laughed softly as Virgo bowed.  
"Punishment for frightening the green haired man, again?" She said  
"No, Virgo. Thank you for putting up our tents." Lucy said, Virgo bowed again and gave her a kettle.  
"Food for you and your friends." She said, Lucy beamed at her.  
"Thanks, Virgo." Lucy said and took the kettle before giving Virgo a hug. Virgo smiled at her and nodded before she left. The others laughed as Freed stood up and brushed off his clothes.  
"It doesn't matter how many times that happens, I jump every time." Freed muttered. The others laughed.  
"You really jump every time?" Angel asked, Freed scowled.  
"He does." Evergreen said with a friendly smirk. The others laughed as their green haired friend blushed.  
The rest of the evening passed with jokes and laughter. And Lucy only stiffened a couple of times, and if the others noticed they didn't say anything. Guessing correctly that she wouldn't want to talk about it.

Late the next morning did they arrive and saw Levy, Gajeel and Lily already there. As the three of them saw their friends Levy raced over to them and threw her arms around Lucy.  
"I'm so glad you are alright. I was so worried." She cried, hugging her friend hard. Lucy hugged her back as well.  
"I'm sorry I worried you." She said, Levy shook her head.  
"No. It wasn't your fault. I'm just glad you are back with us." The bluenett said, Lucy smiled softly at her and nodded. The others smiled at the two young women.  
"Good to have ya back, Bunny." Gajeel said and ruffled her hair. Lucy grinned at him and nodded.  
"I'm glad to be back too." She said, Levy let go of her and said.  
"So, master said you will be here for a while to train. How do you plan on doing that?" She asked, Lucy smiled at her.  
"I need to make my magic container bigger so I can keep my Hell demons out longer, then I need to work on my stamina and physical strength so that my body can handle the strain the increased amount of magic will put on my body." Lucy said  
"We also need to work on your hand to hand skills. You might have a powerful kick, and has grown stronger the last few months, but it never hurts to have a few extra tricks up your sleeve." Laxus said, Lucy nodded.  
"Good. I'm going to join you on all those. I want to become stronger as well, so I can help my family more as well." Levy said, Lucy smiled and nodded, then she looked around at her friends.  
"I really appreciate all this. Thanks you guys." She said, the others smiled at her.  
"No problem, Cosplayer." Bixlow said and grinned at her with his tongue hanging out.  
"Yea, this will be fun." Mira said, the others nodded.

After that did Virgo put up a huge tent for all of them and they fixed their things before they started on their routines. Lucy summoned Mammon and Asmodeus to try to keep their gates open for as long as possible. While they were out they helped Lucy with light hand to hand as well as explaining a bit more about themselves and the other Hell keys. They also, on Lucy's request, told her about some of the legends that surrounded themselves and the other Hell keys, so she could hear more then just facts.  
After she was unable to keep their gates open longer she meditated for a couple of hours, then she spared with Mira while Levy spared with Angel. Mira taught her and Levy how to punch and how to throw someone and how to dodge attacks better and get out of different grappling holds, after having done this until dinner time, around 5, they ate and then the whole group went for a run, taking different routes and going at different speeds to give themselves the best type of challenge. All the routes had been laid out earlier during the day by Capricorn who had come out on his own power to do that. After they they all washed up in a small river before going to bed.  
The next day is nearly the same, except for that the fighting time is split with magic training. Both Lucy and Levy work on their spells while the more seasoned mages spare with each other on a whole other level then Lucy and Levy is capable of.

END OF CHAPTER 11


	12. Chapter 12 - Realization

Chapter 12 - Realization

Nobodys POV  
Natsu sat in the guild, plotting. It had now been nearly three weeks since Lucy woke up.  
 _There is no way Luce has told them she don't want me there with her, keeping her safe and watching so nothing happens to her._ He thought. He had decided to try to find Luce and take her back to the guild, where she belong. He looked around to see if he could find his two teammates to see if they had any ideas to find the blond. He spotted Erza just leaving and Gray sitting at the bar. He nodded and went up to Gray.  
"Oy, Ice prick. Where did Erza go?" He asked, Gray scowled at him.  
"She said she was going on a small trip. I didn't ask where." Gray said, Natsu scowled.  
"Well, I need to talk to you." He said, then looked to make sure the youngest take over mage wasn't within hearing. "We need to come up with a way to find Luce. There is no way she doesn't want to be here in the guild after whatever happened to her. She would want to be surrounded by everyone who care about her." He said but Gray just frowned. He opened his mouth to answer when Juvia popped up beside them.  
"Gray-sama, Juvia found a mission that is perfect for you and Juvia." She said and grabbed his arm and started to pull him over to the doors. "Juvia has already told Lisanna that you are going with Juvia." She said, Natsu stared after them. He had been too stunned to protest against the water woman dragging away with his teammate.

~ with Juvia and Gray ~  
"Hey, Juvia. I was talking to Natsu. You can't just drag someone away in the middle of a discussion." Gray said as the water woman dragged him towards the train station.  
"Juvia do not care that Gray-sama was talking to that idiot. Juvia needs Gray-sama to come with her on this mission so she can talk to him." Juvia said, Gray frowned.  
"What do you need to talk to me about that is so important that we can't just go to the back of the guild?" Gray asked  
"Juvia will tell Gray-sama as soon as we are on the train." She said and bought two tickets and dragged him on to their train and found a privet compartment for them. They sat down on opposite sides.  
"Well?" Gray asked, crossing his arms across his naked chest. Juvia took his shirt and gave it back to him. He took it and put it beside him.  
"Juvia wants to talk to Gray-sama about why he has treated Lucy as he has. Juvia do not understand it." Juvia said. Gray's eyes widened. This was not what he expected. He hesitated and looked out the window.  
"I just wanted to keep her safe. The missions we have done since the GMG have been really hard. And Lucy don't have as much experience as the rest of us on the team." Gray said, Juvia frowned.  
"But what you did only made her feel worse about herself. She talked to Juvia about it a few times since you all kicked her off the team." Juvia said, Gray's head snapped around.  
"What? She has talked to you about it?" He asked, obviously shocked.  
"Of course. Lucy and Juvia is friends, family really. Why wouldn't she talk to Juvia about what is troubling her when Juvia has talked to Lucy about what she is troubled over?" Juvia said, tilting her head to the side.  
"Oh." Gray said, then he looked back out the window. "What did she say?" He asked  
"Juvia will not break Lucy's trust and tell others what has been said in confidence. But Juvia can tell Gray-sama that Lucy feels like you and the other two don't trust her and that she has to be protected from even stubbing her toe. And that makes her feel like she is just in the way and it also makes her feel as if you believe she is a weak and useless porcelain doll who is only good for looking pretty." Juvia said, Gray stared at her, horrified.  
"She really feels like that?" He asked, his voice weak. Juvia nodded.  
"Yes, Juvia would never lie to Gray-sama. Juvia didn't like that it is Gray-sama who made her friend feel like that. But Juvia will not hide from the truth when her friend needs her." Juvia said, crossing her arms across her chest. She didn't like making Gray feel bad like this. But she owed it to her friend to make Gray realize what he did wrong. Lucy had helped her make so much progress with her relationship with Gray. Gray looked down at his hands, horrified with how he made the woman he has seen as a sister ever since they first became friends feel. He had only wanted her to have a happy life after what her father had put her through. And now he was the one that had made her feel like that. He covered his face with his hands.  
"What have I done?" He muttered, Juvia closed her eyes.  
"Juvia do not believe all is lost. Juvia believe that Gray still can gain back Lucy's friendship. Maybe not as strong as it has been, but not all is lost." Juvia said, Gray looked up at her, hope in his eyes.  
'Really?" He asked, Juvia nodded.  
"Yes, Juvia believes so." She said  
"But how? I hurt her so badly." He said  
"Juvia believes that all Gray-sama has to do is apologize and never do anything like this again. Lucy is a very forgiving person. She forgave Juvia for all she did after all." Juvia said, Gray stared at her.  
"That's all? It can't be that easy." He said, Juvia shrugged.  
"That is all Juvia did and it worked for Juvia." She said, Gray nodded.  
"I will try talking to her when she gets back." He said, Juvia nodded.  
"Good. Juvia believe that Lucy will appreciate that. She will probably forgive Gray-sama directly, even if she won't trust you as much directly." She said, Gray nodded.  
"I'm prepared for that." He said, Juvia smiled at him.

The two mages sat in silence for the rest of the trip before getting off at their stop to do the mission.  
During the whole mission was Gray unusually silent. Contemplating everything Juvia had said and thinking through the months since he had realized Lucy was struggling to keep up with the rest of the team during the missions they had been on and all he had said ever since then. He cringed as he realized that what he had said and done would obviously be seen as him, and the others, looking down on her and her strength.  
 _How could I do that to her? She is one of the most fantastic mages in the guild, and I hurt her so badly._ He thought. _I have to apologize to her._ He thought, pain threading through his heart and soul at what he had done to his blond haired friend.  
"Gray-sama?" Juvia asked as they walked back to the train after having finished the mission. Gray looked over at her.  
"Yea?" He asked  
"Have you figured out why Lucy didn't want to come back to the guild after she was kidnapped?" The blue haired woman at his side asked, her tone showing that she already know the answer. Gray shook his head.  
"No, I haven't. No matter how much I think about it I can't figure out why she wouldn't want to be at the guild. Wouldn't she want to be surrounded by everyone in the guild who love her?" He said, Juvia shook her head.  
"No, that is exactly why she hasn't come back yet. Juvia don't know exactly what happened to Lucy, but from what Juvia have understood it was very bad. And Juvia over heard Laxus telling master that even the small group with Lucy right now was a bit too many if they all were too close to her at the same time. So, there is no way she would be able to be surrounded by the whole guild, not when very few in the guild can respect personal space. Laxus said that Lucy even stiffened slightly when Levy hugged her. And Levy is Lucy's best friend." Juvia said, Grays eyes widened, again, as he listened to what Juvia said.  
"If she can't even handle Levy being too close." He trailed off, fear in his voice. Juvia nodded.  
"Yes. How would she react if she came back to the guild and everyone tried to hug her and welcome her home?" She said, Gray nodded.  
"Everything might be ruined and she might never be able to be touched again." He said, remembering how hard it was for him to trust others again after he lost Ur.  
"That is what Juvia think as well. And that is why Juvia will wait for Lucy to come back when she herself feels she is ready, rather then when everyone else think she should return simply because they can't understand that sometimes it's not so easy to get over things that happens." Juvia said, thinking about what she herself once did to Lucy and how easy she had forgiven her and even Gajeel. "Lucy is strong, not many others could have made themselves forgive Juvia, and especially not Gajeel, for what we did when we were still in Phantom Lord. But she did, and she did so with a smile. Juvia was very surprised, but also very happy to know that there was someone out there who would forgive Juvia, even if she messed up." Juvia said with a small smile. Gray smiled and nodded.  
"Lucy is amazing like that. She can get in to anyone's heart with just a smile." He said, Juvia nodded.

The two of the arrived back home at the guild two days after they had left only to find the guild in chaos. Natsu was lying on the floor with a livid Lisanna standing over him in her Tigress form, Romeo standing behind and to the side of her and Cana in the same position on the other side. Both Cana and Romeo looking nearly as angry as Lisanna.  
"What is going on here?" Gray asked, looking from one to the other and stopping on Lisanna. The young take over mage looked over at him.  
"This idiot tried to go off and find Lucy, despite that master, and Lucy herself, won't allow it." She said, her voice shook with rage. Gray stared at her, then down at the pink haired man at her feet.  
"You really are a complete moron." He said, Natsu glowered at him.  
"As if you weren't thinking of doing the same thing before Juvia dragged you away on that mission." Natsu screamed, Gray shook his head.  
"No, I wasn't. I might not have understood why she didn't want to come back after she had woken up, but if she don't want to come home yet I won't force her to do that." Gray said, glaring at his pink haired teammate. Natsu looked shocked that Gray wouldn't be on his side in this matter. Gray sighed and walked over to an empty table with Juvia following behind him. He motioned to one of the newest barmaids that he and Juvia wanted something to eat and drink. She nodded and went to get their things. Gray just closed his eyes and shut the sound of Natsu's shouts out of his ears. He sighed and rested his head on the table.  
"It will be alright, someday." Juvia said and put a hand on his. He smiled slightly and turned his hand so he could squeeze hers.  
"Thanks, Juvia. You are great." He said, Juvia beamed at him.  
"Juvia just wants Gray-sama to feel better without lying to you." Juvia said, Gray nodded.

~ the same evening Gray and Juvia went on the mission ~ with Erza ~  
Erza sat under a waterfall, letting the massive amount of water beat down on her shoulders as she thought about the last few months and what had been said and done and what those things had resulted in. As everything lined up she felt her shoulders sag.  
 _No wounder Lucy don't want to have anything to do with us anymore. The way we treated her was lower then the lowest. Happy was right, we have been worse then Sabertooth was before the GMG._ She thought. _If I had been in her place I would have reacted in a similar way. Tho, I would probably have beaten whoever did that to a pulp as well. But that isn't Lucy's style. In some ways her way is more painful. Being cut off like that and seen as someone who she just happen to share a guild with without liking the other, it hurts._ She continued her thoughts.

Erza continued to sit there for an other week, alternating between sitting under the waterfall and running through the forest and sleeping and eating. Yet, an answer to what she could do to earn Lucy friendship back never came to her.

END OF CHAPTER 12


	13. Chapter 13 - Confessions

Chapter 13 - Confessions

~ Two weeks after Lucy woke up ~ Makarov POV  
I was sitting in my office trying to get rid of a headache that Natsu had given me with his complaining over that he couldn't go to Lucy. I sighed and sank deeper in to my chair, but bolted right back up when my comm. lacrima beeped.  
"Hello." I said, then a smile split my lips as I saw the person on the other end. "Lucy, my child, how are you?" I asked, she smiled back, not her usual thousand watt smile, but still a smile.  
"I'm getting better and better with every day, master." She said. "Mostly thanks to the others just being close by without always being too close." She continued, I nodded. Still smiling.  
"I'm glad you are getting better." I said, the I continued in a softer voice. "Laxus tells me you haven't really told anyone about what happened while you were being held captive. Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head.  
"I'm not ready to talk about it yet. I have told them about the physical torture, the beatings, the cutting and the whipping, but." She trailed off and looked down, tears gathered in her eyes. Then she looked up at me. "I'm just not ready to talk about the rest. They know a little since I still have nightmares, but, I can't talk about it." She said, a tear falling from her eye and trailing down her cheek.  
"It's okay, child. You don't have to tell anyone anything until you feel ready to talk. No one will force you." I said, tears gathering in my own eyes. Lucy gave me a grateful smile.  
"Thank you, master." She whispered, I nodded.  
"Just promise me that you will open up to someone when you feel up to it. It will probably help a lot just to talk about it." I said  
"I will think about it." She say, I nod, knowing that is the best I can hope for.  
"Good." I say. "Why don't you tell me about your training, Laxus refuses to tell me anything. He said I had to wait until you called and ask you." I say with a major pout, hoping to make her laugh or smile, I wasn't disappointed as she giggled.  
"Okay, both me and Levy have been working on our magic reserves so that our containers have gotten bigger. We have also learned some hand to hand combat so that in case an opponent gets to close we can still do something more then just scream for help as Levy put it. We have also worked on stamina and agility. So that we can get away without fighting if our opponent is too strong to fight hand to hand. And Bixlow is teaching us some acrobatics for the same reason. It's really fun." She said, a bigger smile on her face as she told me about their training. I grinned back at her.  
"How does that work while sparing with the others?" I asked interested in hearing more about my childrens improvements. Lucy smiled back.  
"Well, I did manage to get Laxus to fall face first in to a mud puddle I had created when she and I teamed up against Laxus and Gajeel. And then Levy managed to get Gajeel to run right in to a large rock." She said with a giggle. I laughed at the mental picture of my grandson falling face first in to a mud puddle and Gajeel running right in to a large rock thanks to those two women.  
"I would have loved to see that." I chuckled, Lucy gave me an impish smile and said.  
"Well, you might be able to do that. Mira records all our fights so that she and the others can help us improve by pointing out where we could have done something different. And it helps to see how we move to learn as well." Lucy said, I could feel a huge grin split my face and I could bet I had stars in my eyes.  
"You think she will let me watch it?" I asked, and I had to force myself not to jump up and down like a little kid at Christmas. Lucy smiled slightly.  
"Maybe, if you ask her." She said, I nodded.  
"I have to do that." I said, rubbing my hands against each other. "Now, anything else that has happened these weeks?" I asked, she shook her head.  
"No, we focus on training from morning to late evening. I have picked up a few more tricks, but you will have to wait until I use them before you learn what they are." She said, I pouted.  
"But I want to know." I said, trying to use my puppy eyes at her, but she just shook her head.  
"No can do, master. And puppy eyes don't work on me anymore. Happy and Natsu has used it too much." She said and I scowled.  
"Stupid cat and stupid fire breather." I muttered under my breath.  
"What was that?" Lucy asked, I shook my head,  
"Nothing, my child." I said  
"Okay. Well, I need to get back to training. Talk to you an other day." She said, I nodded.  
"Take care of yourself and the others." I said, she nodded.  
"Will do." She said and we ended the call. As the lacrima went white I sighed.  
"Thank the gods that she is doing better." I muttered as I rubbed my temples before starting on the last of my paperwork.

~ with Lucy a week later ~ Lucy POV  
I sat up on my bed, my heart pounding and a silent scream locked in my throat. Tears burned their way down my cheeks. I looked around at my friends and saw that none of them had woken. I let out a silent sigh and got out of bed, pulling on my shoes and a sweater before leaving the tent. I didn't want to wake the others since it was still the middle of the night. I especially didn't want to wake Cobra. I didn't want to worry him more then I already had.  
I walked through the forest until I came to a very large tree I had seen several times during training. It had huge rots that stuck up around it and made for some great hiding places. I sat down between two of the bigger rots and pulled my knees against my chest and rested my forehead against them, sobbing as my tears sped up and quickly made the knees of my pants wet. My arms were around my legs, hugging them tightly as I let out the fear and pain the nightmare had caused to well up within me. My whole body shook with the aftereffect of the dream.

Cobra POV  
I woke to some sound I couldn't pinpoint. I sat up and looked around. My eyes landing on Lucy's empty bed. At first fear grabbed hold of my heart and I feared that someone had manage to grab her. But then I calmed down, there was no other scents in the tent except for our group. But the smell of fear and tears made my stomach turn and I stood up from my bed and walked out in to the night.  
 _Lucy must have had an other nightmare again._ I thought as I listened for her. I didn't want her to be alone with whatever it was that had woken her. I frowned as I realized I couldn't hear where she was, I had to follow the scent of her tears. I hurriedly walked through the forest until I came to a huge tree, as I neared it could I hear soft sobs. I clenched my jaw and hurried around to where the sound came from. What I saw made my heart clench in pain. Lucy looked like she was trying to make herself as small as possible. I sighed softly and walked over to her and picked her up before sitting down with her in my lap. She had stiffened and made a sound of shock and surprise as I lifted her up. When I had sat down did she look up at me with huge teary eyes, tear tracks down her checks. She relaxed as she saw it was me and rested her head against my shoulder, her head bowed.  
"I'm sorry if I woke you." She whispered, I shook my head.  
"You didn't. But I don't like that you left the tent without telling anyone. I thought for a second that someone had manage to get to you again." I said, hugging her tighter to me.  
"I don't think there is anyone in the world who could have sneaked in to that tent without alerting anyone." She said with a wet laugh.  
"You managed to sneak out without anyone noticing." I pointed out, glad I manage to get her to at least stop crying. I lifted my hand and swiped away the tears that still clung to her checks.  
"But you know my scent and know I'm not a danger. But if someone who aren't part of our group here suddenly came in to the tent while everyone was asleep I bet every dragon slayer in the tent would have woken up in the blink of an eye." She said and cuddled closer to me, my arms tightened around her.  
"That is true." I said with a chuckle. She was right. No one would have been able to sneak in to the tent with so many dragon slayers there. I looked down at her and hesitated before asking. "What was the nightmare about this time?" I asked, I felt her stiffen before her body sagged.  
"I was back in there. They were torturing me again. And then they used that cursed spell, 'Dark Dream' again." She said, I hugged her tighter to me as I felt her begin to shake.  
"Shhh~. It's okay. You are safe. It was only a nightmare." I whispered in her ear. She nodded.  
"Sorry. I just." She started, but I put a finger against her lips.  
"Don't. It's not your fault." I said, she nodded again and hid her face against my chest.  
"I guess it just became too much." She said  
"Anyone would have had trouble getting back up on their feet after going through what you did." I said, but she shook her head.  
"It's not just this. It's everything. Ever since I was small has bad things happened." She said  
"I know a little of what you went through. But not much." I said, she sighed.  
"When I was a kid my family was great, mom was a celestial mage, just like I am now, my dad had the company but still took time of as often as he could to be with me and mom. Then, when I was ten, everything changed. My mom took severely ill and died because of it. My dad, he didn't handle it well. He buried himself in work and focused all his energy and time on that. I barley saw him at all. I was lucky if he showed up at mealtimes. But all we talked about then was how i did in my studies. Never about anything else. He never smiled anymore. So, in a way, I lost both my parents that day. And then, when I was 16 he told me that he had arranged a marriage for me. That was when I ran away. I was on the road for a little over half a year before Natsu found me and took me to Fairy Tail. I loved it there. But then, a couple of months after I had gotten there my father hired an other guild to bring me back home. Not because he missed me, but because he believed I had had enough time as a rebellious teen and it was time I came back home and married the man he had chosen for me. The guild he had hired was Phantom Lord, the guild Gajeel and Juvia belonged to." She said and told me about how she had first met those two and then how she had confronted her father. Then she told me about the Tower of Heaven where she had first met Jellal, then her side of the Nirvana battle and I felt my stomach turn. I had been one of her enemies back then, then she told about Edolas and about what had happened on Tenrou Island and how they had come back and learned they had missed 7 years and how she found out her father had changed and that he had died just a month before they returned, then she told her side of the Key of the Starry Sky, and once again my stomach turned in to knots. I had been one of her enemies that time as well. Then she told me about the GMG and her battles with Flare and then Minerva and then the whole eclipse thing with future Rouge and her own future self and the dragons and all that happened around that. Then in more detail what Erza, Natsu and Gray had said and done. After she was done we just sat there in silence for a few moments before she continued. "It just became too much, too many things happened that I didn't have the time to work through it mentally." She said.  
"I'm sorry. I was one of the reasons for two of those things." I said, feeling pain shoot through my heart at all the pain she had gone through over the years.  
"I'm not blaming you. You were a different person back then. The you now would never do that. And I forgave you a long time ago. Otherwise I would never have let you in the door that night." She said, and there was a slight smile in her voice. Then she sighed. "The spell they used, as you know it showed me my worst fears. I saw my friends die because I was too weak to save them. I saw them die in different ways every time. And it wasn't just one death every time they used the spell, it was dozens of times every time. Sometimes I saw everyone get tortured, or eaten alive. It nearly broke me every time." She whispered. Horror rolled over me and I hugged her tightly to me. Just the thought of this beautiful, kind and amazing person having to go through that sent shills and rage through my veins.  
"I'm so sorry I didn't manage to find you sooner so I could have spared you from at least some of it." I whispered, hiding my face in her hair, but once again did she shake her head.  
"The fact that you are here now is enough. It makes me happier then you could ever understand." She said, hugging me back. I hesitated then decided to just go for it and tell her. I wanted her to know that she wasn't alone, that there was someone who cared about her as more then just a friend. Even if that person was me, a former dark mage and prison bird. I loosened my grip on her so I could see her face as I said.  
"I have something I need to tell you." She looked up at me, her head tilted to one side.  
"What?" She asked, I took a deep breath.  
"I love you." I said, I saw her blink, then her eyes widened. And I was sure she would shove me away or tell me that she didn't feel the same. But then she smiled and she threw herself at me, hugging me hard.  
"I love you too." She whispered against my neck. My eyes widened and my arms hugged her to me.  
"Really? You aren't just making fun of me?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly, she shook her head.  
"No, I have liked you for a while now. And while I was being held captive I realized just how much you mean to me." She said. A smile split my face and I buried my face in her hair. I swear I could have flown with how happy I felt. The saying that happiness gives you wings made perfect sense to me at that moment.  
We stayed there, just hugging each other for a few minutes before Lucy yawned. I looked down at her with a small smile as she blushed.  
"Come on. Lets go back to the tent and sleep the few hours that are left before it's time for us to get up and continue our training." I said, she nodded as she yawned again. I stood up with her still in my arms. She squeaked and hugged me around the neck again.  
"What are you doing?" She asked, I smirked at her.  
"Carrying my princess back to our sleeping quarters." I said  
"You haven't actually asked me out yet you know." She said with a raised eyebrow. I blinked and laughed.  
"Fine. Do you want to be my girlfriend?" I asked, she beamed at me. The first really big smile since she had been rescued.  
"Yes." She said and hugged me hard. I grinned.  
"Good." I said and carried her back to the tent and put her down on her bed. But as I stood up to go over to my own she held on to me.  
"Stay?" She asked, her voice small. "You keep the nightmares away." She continued. My face softened and I nodded and lied down beside her. She put her head on my chest and fell asleep in seconds. I smiled down at her and closed my eyes and joined her in sleep.

END OF CHAPTER 13


	14. Chapter 14 - Forgiveness, Fight & Party

Chapter 14 - Forgiveness, Fight & Party

Nobodys POV  
When Lucy and Cobra awoke the next day did they find themselves at the center of everyone's attention. They both blushed at the looks the others gave them.  
"What?" Lucy asked  
"Just the fact that you two are sharing a bed, when you weren't last night when we all got to bed." Laxus said with a smirk.  
"So what?" Cobra asked  
"Just tell us why." Levy said, a glint in her eyes. The new couple looked at each other before Lucy nodded.  
"Lucy had a nightmare last night and took a walk to clear it out. I followed her and we ended up talking." Cobra started, they saw every smile fall in the tent.  
"And at the end, Cobra confessed that he loves me and I told him that I love him as well, and then he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes." Lucy said with a satisfied smile.  
"And when we got back here, Lucy asked me to sleep beside her since that keeps the nightmares away." Cobra finished. The others stared at them. Then Mira gave a squeal and smiled at them.  
"That is fantastic. I'm so happy for you two." She said, the others nodded and smiled as they agreed with Mira. The couple smiled back at them and they saw that Lucy's old smile was nearly completely back again, which made them even happier.

An other week of training passes before Lucy tells them.  
"I think I'm ready to head back to the guild now." Then she looked up at Cobra. "If you can stay for a few weeks that is." He smile at her and nods.  
"I will stay as long as you need me to." He said  
"And we will come by and visit often after that." Angel said, Lucy smiled at them all and nodded.  
"Shall we head back tomorrow morning then?" Mira asked, she hadn't said anything, but she had started to miss her siblings. Lucy nodded.  
"Sure. I miss the guild and it's going to be nice seeing them again." She said, the others smiled at her and Cobra put his arm around her waist and pulled her close.  
"It will go fine." He said, she looked up at him and smiled.  
"I know. You are there." She said, which cause Cobra to blush and their friends to laugh.

It was late the next day when they arrived at the guild. They nodded and walked in. Everyone quieted down and looked towards the doors when they opened.  
"We are back." They all said with smiles. Huge cheers broke out and they all screamed their welcome.  
"Lucy!" Cana screamed and ran up to her one time partner and hugged her. "We have missed you so much." She screamed, happy tears running down her face. Lucy laughed and hugged her back.  
"I've missed you guys as well." She said  
"Then why didn't you just come back directly instead of staying away?" Natsu's voice broke through every other notice with the accusing tone. Everyone stared at him.  
"Because I wasn't ready to come back yet. I had a few things to work through." Lucy said, her back straight and her head held high.  
"What was so important that you couldn't do that here?" He asked, his tone still accusing. Lucy was about to answer when a hammer made of ice hit Natsu hard in the head and he passed out. Gray stood behind him, the hammer in his hand. He looked up at Lucy and as he walked towards her the hammer disappeared. When he was a few meters in front of her he bowed and said.  
"I'm so sorry for everything I have said and done those last few months. I don't have any excuse other then that I was worried that the missions was too hard. I have realized that the way I handled it was wrong. And I'm really sorry for all the pain and sorrow I have cause you because of that." He said, his voice clear. The whole guild, except for Juvia, gasped. Lucy looked at him for a couple of seconds before saying.  
"Will you ever do that again? To me or anyone else?" She asked, Gray straightened and looked right in the eyes.  
"Never. I promise that I will never again do the same again, not to you, not to anyone." He said, his face serious. Lucy smiled and nodded as she walked up to him and hugged him.  
"I accept your apology." She said, and everyone could see how Gray relaxed and hugged her back.  
"Thank you." He said, Lucy nodded.  
"I won't come back to the team, I really like working with Mira." She said as she let go of him. He nodded.  
"I know. To me it's enough knowing that we are good again." He said, that made the whole guild cheer, except for Natsu who is still knocked out. Cobra and the others came up to them and he put his arm around her waist and said.  
"That's great." Lucy looked up at him and nodded.  
"Since when have you two been so chummy?" Cana asked, looking between Lucy and Cobra.  
"Ever since he asked me out and I said yes." Lucy said with a small smirk.  
"What?" The whole guild shouted, the slayers winced at the volume.  
"This needs to be celebrated!" Lisanna screamed. "Both that Lucy and the others are back and the new couple!" She continued. The whole guild cheered once again. It didn't even take 5 minutes before the party was in full swing.  
Natsu woke a few minutes after the party had started and looked around to find Lucy and found her sitting in Cobras lap, her head against his shoulder with Cubellios curled around everyone that sat at the table. He growled. He didn't like the sight of Lucy and Cobra that close at all. He stormed up to them and demanded to know what was going on.  
"Well, we were having a nice chat before now." Lucy said, knowing that wasn't what he meant.  
"I didn't mean that. I mean about you and Cobra being so cozy together." Natsu growled  
"I'm allowed to cuddle with my girlfriend whenever I want to." Cobra pointed out. Natsu stared at them.  
"What?" He asked, stunned.  
"Me and Cobra is dating." Lucy said slowly  
"I'm not accepting that. You don't deserve her." Natsu growled, by now everyone in the guild had stopped to stare at what Natsu was doing. And everyone who had been with Lucy the last few weeks had the same thought.  
 _If he don't stop this soon he will be in a world of pain._  
"I don't care if you accept it nor not. It's my life, and his. We do as we wish. And you have no say in the matter, at all." Lucy pointed out.  
"I won't allow it." Natsu screamed  
 _Well, shit._ Everyone thought at the same time.  
"Won't allow? Since when does it matter if you allow something or not when I do something?" Lucy asked in a quiet, deadly voice.  
"Since I was the one that found you and brought you here." Natsu said with anger.  
 _*SLAM*_ Natsu hit the wall on the other side with a loud crash before he slid down to the floor, leaving a dent in the wall where he had hit.  
"Don't you dare act like you own me. I'm my own person and I do whatever I want. Your thoughts and wishes matter not at all to me. They did before you had me kicked of the team and told me I was too weak to go with you and the others. But not anymore. So stay out of my business from now on." Lucy hissed at him. Natsu stared at her. He hadn't even seen her move before he was flying through the air.  
"Fight me!" He yelled as he jumped up on his feet. "If you win I will leave you alone, if I win you will leave that bastard." He screamed. Before Lucy could answer did Cobra start laughing.  
"Go for it, sweety. There is no way you will lose to him. And he needs to learn that everything don't always stay the way they start out." He said, Lucy looked at him before nodding.  
"Okay, we will do this outside." She said and started walking towards the back doors. Natsu smirked, completely sure he could beat her. They stood facing each other as Makarov looked at them before saying.  
"You ready?" The two nodded. "Ready, set, go!" He jumped back as Natsu sent a huge roar at Lucy. Lucy took a deep breath and jumped. She jumped right over the roar and landed behind Natsu. A white veil in front of the lover half of her face that hadn't been there before she jumped. Then a pair of black sunglasses appeared and she dodged the kick Natsu sent out at her. She jumped and twisted in mid air as a golden bracelet appeared on her right wrist, she landed in a crouch in front of him. Her fist connecting with his stomach and he flew backwards. Lucy leaped forward and kicked him in the side of the head and downwards. Sending him crashing in to the ground and rendering him unconscious. She straightened and her appearance went back to normal. Makarov came up to them and looked at Natsu before grinning.  
"And the winner of this match is Lucy!" He shouted, the whole guild erupted in cheers. Lucy grinned and walked up to Cobra. He hugged her and gave her a quick kiss.  
"I knew you would beat him." He said  
"Lucy! How did you do that? And why did your appearance change and where did the bracelet and glasses come from ?" Romeo asked  
"That was me using my latest skill. I can borrow a little bit of the power from my spirits so I don't have to summon them for every little thing." Lucy told everyone.  
"That was amazing. Which spirits did you use?" Cana asked  
"Libra, to make my body lighter while moving and heavier when I attacked, Capricorn to make me even more agile and Mammon's hand to hand skills." She said  
"Not that you really needed any of it. You could probably have manage with using only Libra, and probably even without that. You have grown really strong those few weeks." Mira said, beaming at her partner. Lucy smiled back.  
"Yea, but this way is more fun. Plus, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of having managed to land even one hit on me." Lucy shrugged.

The mages went back in to the guild, Lisanna dragging Natsu by his hair back inside.  
The evening passed with laughter as most of the mages got drunker with every hour. Around 10 Lucy and Cobra decided to head back to her apartment. The others said that they would stay with some of the other members, even Cubellios wouldn't come with them, choosing to stay with Wendy who she had become great friends with during those last few weeks.  
Lucy and Cobra walked silently back home hand in hand. As the door close behind them and Cobra locked it Lucy said.  
"I'm not used to this quiet." She looked at him with a rye smile. He nodded.  
"Neither am I. But it's nice like this as well." He said and walked over to the bed after having taken of his shoes. He sat down on the bed and opened his arms for her. She smiled and took of her shoes as well before walking over to him and sitting down in his lap and kissing him. The kiss quickly turn heated and they fell back on the bed, losing their shirts on the way down. "You ready for this?" Cobra asked, Lucy smiled down at him and said.  
"Yes." Before kissing him. Cobra smiled up at her before rolling them over so he was on top of her.  
"Good, I have wanted to do this for a long time now." He said and kissed her heatedly.

~ somewhere else in Magnolia ~  
Jellal walked through town, too awake to sleep, but not really feeling like staying at the guild. He had been walking for a few minutes when he heard a surprised voice.  
"Jellal?" He turned and saw Erza standing a few metered away.  
"Erza." He said, bowing his head in greeting.  
"What are you doing here? I thought you were with Lucy and the others." Erza asked, bewilderment obvious in her voice.  
"We came back earlier today." Jellal answered  
"So, Lucy is also back?" Erza asked, looking in the direction of the blonds home. Jellal nodded.  
"Yes, Lucy is at home right now. But I wouldn't suggest going there now, no matter what you want to say to her." Jellal said, Erza raised her eyebrows.  
"And why not? What if I desire to speak to her?" She said

"Then you will probably see something you never wanted to see. Plus, probably get pretty badly hurt." Jellal said with a shrug  
"What is she doing that I might not want to see?" Erza asked, curious.  
"Well, she is alone at home, in bed, with her boyfriend. I'm sure you can guess what they are doing." Jellal said with a small smile. Erza's eyes widened.  
"I didn't know she had a boyfriend." She said, the the rest of what Jellal said sank in and she blushed. That was something she never want to see her friend do.  
"She didn't until a week ago when Cobra asked her out and she said yes." Jellal shrugged. Erza blinked.  
"Lucy, and Cobra?" She asked, shocked.  
"They have liked each other for a while now." He said  
"Oh." Erza said  
"You better not try the same stunt as Natsu did and say you won't allow it." Jellal said, his voice growing dark.  
"Natsu tried to forbid them from being together?" Erza asked  
"He did worse. He challenged Lucy to a fight. Saying that if she win, he would leave her along, but if he wins she had to break it of with Cobra." Jellal said  
"Since they are together at home now, I take it Lucy declined the challenge." Erza said, but Jellal shook his head.  
"No. She accepted, on Cobras insistence. And she beat him easily. He never managed to land even one hit." Jellal smiled. Erza's eyes widened. Then she smiled.  
"Lucy has grown a lot stronger, hasn't she?" She said, Jellal nodded and Erza sighed.  
"You have come to the realization that what you have said and done is wrong, haven't you?" Jellal asked, Erza nodded. Pain in her eyes.

"Yes. But I have no idea of what to do now." She said, her voice soft.  
"Do the same thing Gray did and apologize for everything and promise to never, ever, do anything like it again. Not to her, or anyone else." Jellal said, Erza stared at him.  
"It can't be that easy." She said, Jellal shrugged.  
"It was that easy for Juvia and Gajeel after the Phantom thing, it was that easy for me, and my guild mates. And it was that easy for Gray." Jellal said. "Lucy is a very forgiving person. As long as the person truly mean it she will forgive anyone who asks for it." He finished. Erza nodded. Thinking back to all that had happened and all the people Lucy had forgiven.  
"I will talk to her tomorrow." She decided. Jellal smiled and nodded.  
"Now, are you going to the guild or home?" He asked  
"I'm on my way home. I need to sleep." Erza said, Jellal nodded.  
"I will walk you." He said, Erza blushed slightly but nodded. And together they walked silently through the streets.

END OF CHAPTER 14 


	15. Chapter 15 - S-class Mission

Chapter 15 - S-class Mission

Nobodys POV  
Jellal and his guild mates, excluding Cobra, stayed for a week before heading out on a job that Lahar had contacted them about. Cobra, and Cubellios, stayed for an other three weeks. During this month a lot happened. Erza made a huge scene and apologized to Lucy in front of the whole guild, and unlike when Gray did it was Natsu awake and heard it all. And it made him sit down and think through why Erza and, he had learn, Gray had apologized to Lucy. At first had he no idea of why, but after having grabbed both Erza and Gray and asked them about it and they had helped him think it through he realized just how wrong he had been and how much he had hurt his one time best friend. He immediately raced back in to the guild and looked for Lucy, frantically wanting to apologize for everything he had said and done. As soon as he found her he took a deep breath and just jumped right in to it. He apologized, just like the other two, in front of the whole guild. Lucy smiled brightly at him and, just like with the other two, gave him a hug and told him she forgave him. Natsu beamed at her. Happy to have her back in his life. A couple of days after Natsu had apologized did Happy come back from a long visit with his parents, even if he doesn't know they are his parents. He looked around and saw Lucy, Mira, Cobra, Laxus and his team sitting around a couple of tables together with Natsu, Erza and Gray. At first was he confused and asked Lisanna about it. So she told him about how the three had apologized to Lucy. Happy grinned and flew over to them.  
"Hi, everyone." He said, then he landed in front of Lucy. "I'm sorry." He said and looked at her with teary eyes.  
"It's okay, Happy." Lucy said and hugged him, he smiled brightly and hugged her back. The group smiled at them and was glad the group had made up completely.

Cobra returned to work after a month of taking it easy with Lucy and her guild mates.  
"I promise I will come by as often as possible, and we can go on a couple of missions each month as well." He said and hugged her tightly. Lucy nodded.  
"I will still miss you." She said and rubbed her nose against his chest.  
"And I you. This month has been great. For the first time since I was taken to the tower do I have somewhere to call home. Somewhere I can return to where there will be someone waiting for me." He said and buried his own nose in her hair and breathed in her scent, which was now strongly mixed with his own. He smiled, knowing that any slayer that came within smelling distance of any of them would know they were spoken for.  
"Well, you will always have a home with me where you will be welcomed." Lucy said with a smile as she looked up at him. He smiled at her and bowed his head down and kissed her.  
"I will be going now, see you in a week or so." He said as they ended the kiss, she nodded and gave him a quick kiss before taking a step back.  
"Take care of yourself and the others, okay?" She said, then she petted Cubellios on the head. "And you too. Make sure he don't end up in too much trouble now, okay?" Cubellios nodded her head and Cobra smiled.  
"We will be okay. You take care as well." He said, Lucy smiled and nodded. After that Cobra and Cubellios left to go find their guild mates. Lucy smiled a bit sadly as she saw them leave. Then she dropped the shield around her mind and thought.  
 _Love you, Cobra. Take care now._ Then she raised the shield and turned to walk to the guild.

Cobra smiled as he heard Lucy's thoughts.  
"Well then, old friend, lets get this mission over with." He said to Cubellios as she lifted them both up in to the air. She gave a hiss in response and sped up slightly.

Lucy was sitting at the bar with Mira, talking with Lisanna who had a break thanks to the new girls the guild had hired to help at the bar.  
"So master is thinking of hiring two more so that all the mages of the guild can be out on missions?" Lucy asked Lisanna, the youngest white haired mage nodded.  
"Yea, he said that it wasn't fair to us who had to be behind the bar when we became mages to help people. And I'm a little grateful for this. I like being out in the field." She said, Mira nodded.  
"It's fun being behind the bar, but it's great to be out in the field again." She said  
"Yea, so, I was thinking. Do you two think I could come with you on a mission? I want to become stronger for the S-class exam next year. Plus, I sort of want to see you two in action." Lisanna said, blushing slightly. The other two smiled at her.  
"But you did see Lucy in action when she beat Natsu." Mira said  
"That doesn't count. It was too one-sided. Natsu didn't stand a chance." Lisanna laughed  
"I don't mind if you come with us, what about you, Mira?" Lucy said and looked at her partner.  
"I don't mind either. We could take that mission we saw that needed 5 wyverns taken out. It's not too hard but it will give Lisanna a chance to both fight and watch us fight." Mira said, Lisanna beamed at them.  
"Really? You will let me come with you?" She asked, the two nodded. "Yes! Thank you. Both of you." She said, a huge smile on her face.  
"No problem. It will be fun working with you." Lucy said, Mira nodded as well.  
"Yea, we haven't really done that since you came back." She said, Lisanna nodded.  
"Well, shall we go now?" Lucy asked, the other two nodded and they left to go get the mission. After they had gotten it registered they left for the station.  
"Don't we have to pack anything?" Lisanna asked, Lucy shook her head.  
"Virgo does that for us. She always packs a small bag for both of us, and she will do the same for you." Mira said with a smile. Lisanna grinned.  
"That's handy." She said, Lucy nodded.  
"Yea, even if I don't like using her like that she always insist on doing it." She said with a shrug and there was a fond smile on her lips.  
"You will learn that taking care of our bags is only a small part of what Lucy's spirits do for us. They always ends up helping out in one way or other. Tho, Virgo is the one that helps out the most." Mira said, Lisanna shook her head in amazement.  
"I always knew your magic was fantastic." She said, looking at Lucy, who blushed.  
"I'm lucky to have them." She said with a smile. The other two smiled and nodded.  
"So, how shall we do this mission?" Lisanna asked as they sat down on the train.  
"Well, there is 5 of them. So why don't I and Lucy take two each and you take the fifth?". Mira asked, looking from one to the other. Lucy nodded.  
"That works for me." She said  
"You think I will be able to handle one on my own?" Lisanna asked, worried.  
"If you want to I can summon Loki and have him be your backup. And that he only will step in and help if you need it." Lucy said  
"You sure? I don't want you to use up more magic for my sake." Lisanna said  
"It will be okay. Lucy has been working on her endurance as well as widening her magic container and making her magic more potent. She is able to hold several of the golden gates open at the same time now." Mira said with a proud smile.  
"Really?" Lisanna asked, looking at Lucy with huge eyes. Lucy nodded with a small blush dusting her cheeks. "That's amazing. I hope to be as strong as you two some day." Lisanna said  
"You will. You just have to work hard. Just like we did." Lucy smiled at her. Lisanna nodded.

The three mages walked through the forest, following the trail the wyverns had done. Mira was already in her Satan soul and Lisanna was in her Tigress form. Lucy had Capricorns sunglasses out, showing that she had activated her link to him and now had his agility. They walked carefully, keeping their eyes and senses on high alert to prevent being ambushed. They walked in to a clearing and had to jump away. All five wyverns stood there as if waiting for them. Lucy tricked two of them to come after her and saw Mira doing the same.  
"Open, gate of the Lion! Loki!" She shouted as she pulled out his key.  
"What can I help you with Princess?" He asked  
"I want you to be Lisanna's backup in case her wyvern is too much. Don't help unless you have to." Lucy explained. Loki nodded and ran over to Lisanna. Staying in the background, but close enough to be able to jump in in case he was needed. Then Lucy turned towards her two and looked them over. They were big. But not the biggest ones she had seen. Why this mission was classified as S-class she didn't really know. But suspected that there was something going on here that they hadn't seen yet. She heard how the others started battle but she waited, there was something off about those wyverns, she could feel it. She blinked and the wyverns moved. They were fast. Much faster then any other wyvern she had ever seen. Lucy dodged and aimed a 'celestial beam' at one of them and a 'celestial sphere' at the other. The attacks hit dead center, but the wyverns just shook their heads and attacked again. Lucy scowled. Then she activated her link to Taurus, making a making a cow printed, long skirt with a snit going from the middle of her thigh and down appear.

Mira was also having trouble with hers. Her magical attacks didn't work at all. She glared at the two wyverns in front of her before attacking. Going in to a close combat situation. She quickly noticed, just like Lucy also noticed, that physical attacks had much more effect then magical. Mira jumped back a bit and shouted to the others.  
"Magic don't work on them, you have to use raw physical strength!"  
"Yea, I also noticed that. Why is that do you think?" Lucy asked as she landed behind Mira.  
"I have no idea. I have never run in to wyverns like this before." Mira said  
"Could they be the pets of some dark mage that has given them immunity against magic?" Lisanna asked as she and Loki came up to them as well, both looking a bit battered.  
"Could be." Lucy said, sounding hesitant. Mira nodded.  
"I don't know what else it could be." She said  
"Do you want to go back, Loki? I can summon Taurus instead. He might be of more help since he nearly only uses raw strength." Lucy said  
"As much as I would like to say that I can handle this I don't think I'm strong enough to take this one down." Loki said, Lucy nodded and Loki left. Lucy touched Taurus key and he appeared, already ready for battle.  
"Mooo~ I will protect the awesome bodies of Lucy and her friends." He said and glared at the wyvern in front of him.  
"Well then. Lets show them what we are made of." Lucy said, the others nodded and they all lunched forward, attacking with speed and power.

Between Mira in Satan soul, Lisanna in her Tigress form, Taurus and Lucy with two links activated the five wyverns were soon history.  
Lucy rested her hands on her knees and tried to calm her breathing down.  
"That. Was. Crazy." Lisanna said from where she sat on the wyvern she and Taurus had taken down. Mira nodded.  
"Yea. But it was fun. I haven't had to fight like that against a wyvern in a long time." She said and sat down on one of the ones she had taken down.  
"Oh well, shall we go back and tell them we have finished the mission?" Lucy said  
"Ouch"" Lisanna said as she landed on the ground when the wyvern disappeared.  
"Whaa." Mira said at the same time since the one she sat on also disappeared. Lucy looked around and saw that all the wyverns had disappeared.  
"Guys, get up. Something is going on here. And it's not a good time to rest." She said, grabbing both Asmodeus and Mammons keys and preparing to activate her link to Loki and Libra. Mira and Lisanna jumped up and went over to Lucy, standing back to back so they could see the whole clearing around them.  
"Do you sense it too?" Mira asked, her voice low, Lucy nodded.  
"Yea, it feels dark, slimy and wrong." She said  
"What does?" Lisanna asked  
"Something is coming, something evil." Mira said  
"But from where? I can't pinpoint it." Lucy said  
"Me neither. Somehow it feels as if it's coming from several directions." Mira murmured  
"Lisanna, if me or Mira tells you to, you turn in to your bird form or use your wings and get out of here." Lucy said, her voice hard.  
"What? In not leaving you guys here." Lisanna said  
"Lisanna." Mira snapped. "We don't know what it is that is coming. It might not be something we can fight. And in that case we need you to go to the guild and tell them what you have seen. It's only a last resort, but it's still a possibility." She said. Lisanna hesitated, but nodded.  
"Okay. I will. But I will come with them when we come back for you." She said, Lucy smirked.  
"I wouldn't expect anything less from the tigress of Fairy Tail." She said, Lisanna smiled. Glad that Lucy thought so high of her. Just then did several people appear around them. All of them dressed in dark red capes.  
"Well, well. What do we have here. Three pretty mage girls. You will fetch a nice price on the market." The apparent leader said  
"Are you the ones that sent those wyverns?" Mira asked  
"Of course. They are my creations. Earth molding magic." The leader smirked  
"Why thank you for telling us what kind of magic you use." Lucy smirked  
"It won't matter if you know my magic or not. You will have to deal with all of the others anyway. And all of us use magic. And even if you do, you have been fighting my wyverns so you are nearly drained." He said with a cruel smirk in his tone. Lisanna laughed at him.  
"Who do you think we are?" She sneered. "Come on you two. Lets show them what the Tigress, the Demon and the Celestial Maiden of Fairy Tail is capable of when pushed in to a corner." She said, Lucy grinned and Mira smirked.  
"You bet." Mira said and changed in to her Satan Soul - Sitri while Lisanna turned in to her Tigress form again and Lucy summoned the two demons while activating the links to Libra and Loki, making the veil appear and her hair change in to a wilder version with what looked like cat ears atop.  
"Who did you say you were?" The leader asked and for the first time since he and the others appeared sounding worried.  
"The Demon Mirajane, the Tigress Lisanna and the Celestial Maiden, Lucy of Fairy Tail." Lisanna repeated as she smirked. Several of the dark mages took a step back.  
"Shit." Someone hissed  
"Mira, Lisanna, Asmodeus, Mammon. Lets take them down." Lucy said  
"Aye." The others said and they all lunched at their opponents.  
"Take them down." The leader shouted and they attacked.  
The fight went on for nearly half 'n hour because of the sheer number of dark mages. But in the end did the three girls manage to gather all of them up with the help of the two demons and Virgo popped up with magic canceling ropes and tied them all up. After that did Asmodeus and Mammon return so Lucy wouldn't use up all her magic and she unactivated the links to her two spirits. She then sat down heavily on a large rock that hadn't been there before the fight.  
"Can we rest a little before going back?" She asked with a rye smile. Lisanna sat down beside her with a sigh.  
"Yes please. I feel like I don't have any magic left." She said, Mira nodded and sat down on a fallen tree.  
"Well, those guys isn't going anywhere so we might as well rest for a little bit before going back." She said, the other two nodded.

They stayed there for about ten minutes before getting back up and going in to town with the dark mages dragging behind them. The major was overly thankful that they solved the problem and doubled the reward, despite the girls protests.  
"We hired you to take down a few wyverns. But you managed to take down a whole dark guild as well. You deserve the money. And thanks to you the towns people will be safe again." He said, the three sighed, smiled and nodded.  
"As you wish. We are happy we could help." Mira said  
"If we ever need help again I will ask for you three." The major smiled, the girls thanked him and left the town. As they left the town they heard the sound of a racket going up so they turned and saw the Fairy Tail sign blast across the sky with the text 'Thank you' under it. The girls laughed and stepped on the train.  
"That was a great mission. Even if we had to fight a dark guild as well." Lisanna said  
"Yea, all we have to do now is write our reports and give them to master." Mira said, the other two nodded and took out writing supplies from their bags that Virgo and left them just as the train had started to move.

END OF CHAPTER 15


	16. Chapter 16 - Epilog

AN : Here is the last chapter of this story =D I hope you will like it =D

Chapter 16 - Epilog

Lucy POV  
I sat at my desk, writing on my novel in my new home. A big two story house me and Cobra had picked out the month before. I had finally gotten around to finding a new place and I loved it.  
Cobra had come by two, three times every month ever since we started dating. I looked at the calendar that hung beside my desk. Today was our half year anniversary. And I hoped Cobra would remember and at least contact me. But it was already after 5 in the evening and he hadn't called yet.  
 _*Ding Dong*_ I heard the door bell ring. I sighed and stood up and went down to answer it. As I opened I got a eyeful of a huge bouquet of red, blue and purple roses. I looked up at the person holding them and grinned.  
"Cobra." I smiled, he smiled back at me and swooped me up in a hug and kissed me. I grinned and kissed him back, my arms around his neck.  
"Happy anniversary, sweety." He said as he put me down and handed me the roses.  
"Happy anniversary, darling." I smiled back and took the roses and his hand and started walking in to the living room to get a vase for my new flowers.  
"So, I have booked a table at our favorite French restaurant for 6 o'clock. So if you want to get ready I can fix the flowers." He said and I squealed and hugged him.  
"You are the best." I said and gave him the flowers as I kissed him before racing up to the bedroom to get a dress before hurrying in to the bathroom to clean up.

Forty five minutes later found us sitting at the restaurant looking over the menus.

We didn't get much sleep that night as I decided to repay him for the costly meal.  
We fell asleep in each others arms, tired but very satisfied.

~ 1 ½ month later ~ Nobodys POV  
"MIRA!" Lucy shouted as she raced in to the guild, looking around frantically for her partner, seeing her sitting at the bar she raced up to her.  
"Lucy? What's wrong?" She asked worried.  
"Come with me for a second." Lucy said and dragged Mira up to her office. She closed the door and activated the sound blocking spell she had put on it.  
"Lucy? You are starting to worry me." Mira said  
"Look at this." Lucy said and gave her a small stick. Mira took it and looked at it, at first she couldn't understand what the two lines on it meant. Then her eyes widened and she looked up at Lucy who looked but horrified and excited.  
"Is this what I think it is?" Mira asked, Lucy nodded. "Are you?" Mira asked, not really ready to believe it. Lucy nodded again.  
"Yea, I suspected something was up during our last mission. Something felt off. Then I remembered that I have had my period the last two times. So, I bought that and checked." Lucy said  
"That's amazing. You are going to be a mother." Mira grinned  
"Yea. I just don't know what Cobra will say." Lucy said, worry evident in her voice.  
"Do you know where he is?" Mira asked, Lucy nodded.  
"You know that forest where comm. lacrima don't work?" Lucy said, Mira nodded. "They are there." She explained. Mira thought about it, then nodded.  
"We will get Natsu and Gray to get him. And ask Lily if he is willing to carry Gray." Mira said, Lucy hesitated, then nodded. "Good. I will get them." Mira said and left the office. Lucy tried to clam herself down while she waited for her partner to come back with her former teammates and the two exceeds. It didn't take them long.

Natsu POV  
We all saw Lucy race in to the guild, looking excited and horrified at the same time and we all wondered what could have happened. I watched as she dragged Mira up to her office with worry.  
"What could have happened?" I muttered  
"I don't know. But it must be pretty serious." Gray said beside me, I nodded.  
I was still watching the stairs with the rest of the guild when Mira came out on the stairs.  
"Natsu, Gray, Happy, Lily! Can you come up here for a minute?" She shouted, I frowned and looked at Gray. What could have happened?  
We hurried up to her.  
"Mira. What happened to Luce?" I asked, she shook her head.  
"Not our here." She said and we followed her in to Luce's office.  
"Luce?" I asked, she looked over at us and smiled and motioned for us to sit.  
"We have something good to tell you guys, and a request." Lucy said, we nodded and sat down. Lucy sat down on her desk.  
"What happened? You ran in to the guild like you had fire burning under your tail." Happy said  
"I have no idea of how to say this so I'm just gonna say it bluntly." Lucy said and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant." She said, I blinked, then blinked again. Then her words sank in and my jaw dropped.  
"What? When? How?" I stammered, then turned red. "Wait, ignore the last two." I said, shaking my head. I saw the others staring at her as well.  
"I was planing on it. I don't think any of you really want to know that." Luce said, a glint in her eyes.  
"No thank you." Gray said  
"You said you had a request for us." Lily said, Lucy nodded.  
"Cobra doesn't know yet. And he is in a special forest where comm. lacrima don't work. So we want you four to fly there. That forest is dangerous. And the bigger a group is the bigger the chance of them being attacked, but an along mage wouldn't stand a chance." Mira said, I nodded, I knew which forest she was talking about. It wasn't a good place to get lost in or be alone in.  
"Otherwise you could have sent only me and Happy." I said, Luce nodded.  
"Yea, but you need at least one more. And no offense to Erza, but she isn't good enough at tracking." Mira said  
"But, Gray, Lily, you two are." Luce said, they nodded.  
"We will go." I said  
"Yea. We need to tell the soon to be father about this." Gray said with a grin. Luce blushed.  
"I'm happy to be able to help. We will bring him here as fast as we can." Lily said and we stood up.  
"Thanks you guys." Luce said with her thousand watt smile.  
"No problem." I said and ruffled her hair. After that we left the office, a lot of people shouted after us, wanting to know what was going on.

Nobodys POV  
Mira and Lucy walked down to the bar after Lucy had calmed down a little bit more and Mira told them about the good news and explained to Gajeel why they needed Lily to go. He just nodded and said that he understood. Which he did. Natsu and Gray worked great together when they had to, and Lily was a great fighter as well as being able to fly.

Cobra POV  
We had nearly finished up our mission when I heard Natsu and three other voices in the distance, all sounding as if they were looking for me.  
"Hey, we will soon have company. Natsu, Gray and two cats are on their way." I said  
"I wonder what they want." Jellal said  
"I hope nothing have happened to Lucy or any of the others." Angel said, worry in her voice. Sweat started to trickle down my spine in fear. Just then the four of them landed in front of us.  
"Cobra, you need to go to Lucy. Like, right now." Natsu said  
"What happened? Is she okay?" I asked, fear in my voice.  
"Yea, she is fine. But, she will really need you from now on." Gray said, I looked between them.  
"She is pregnant." Natsu said seriously, my eyes widened in shock and I could hear several of my guild mates choke on air.  
"Oh. My. God." I whispered. Natsu nodded.  
"Yea. Pretty much our reaction as well. From what I understand, she don't know how you will feel about this. She is worried that you will leave her." Natsu said, I stared at her.  
"I would never leave her. She is the best thing that ever happened to me." I said, Natsu grinned.  
"Good. Then why don't you hurry to her. She needs you." He said, I nodded and looked around at the others.  
"Go. We will take care of the rest of this." Jellal said, I nodded and jumped up on Cubellios back.  
"Thanks." I said  
"We will help out here so it will go faster then we will come after." Gray said, I nodded and me and Cubellios left.  
"Come on. We need to get to Lucy. And fast." I said to her, she hissed and sped up. Flying at her fastest speed, which would get us to Magnolia within a few hours.

Nobodys POV  
Cobra arrived at the guild a couple of hours before sunset and ran inside and found Lucy sitting with her friends. She looked up at him and he smiled at her. Her face split in two with a huge smile and she raced over to him and threw her arms around his neck. He easily caught her and hugged her close.  
"I can't believe I'm going to be a father." He whispered in her ear. She grinned.  
"I can't believe I'm going to be a mother." She said, her voice just as low.  
"Come on. We need to talk. Lets go home." He said, she nodded and they said their good byes to the guild and walked quickly home.

That night they stayed up late, talking about the baby that would come in a few months. Cobra sighed and said.  
"I need to talk to my guild mates about something." He said, Lucy tilted her head to the side in question.  
"I'm planing on leaving Crime Sorcière and ask Makarov if I can join Fairy Tail. I can't continue to come and go like I have if we are going to start a family." He said, Lucy beamed at him.  
"I would love to have you in the guild. Maybe the others will do so as well." She said, Cobra nodded.  
"We have talked about it before." He admitted. "But Angel is planing on joining Sabertooth to be with her sister." He said, Lucy nodded.  
"I'm not surprised over that." She said

~ 12 months later ~  
Lucy and Cobra sat in the guild, surrounded by their friends. Their 4½ month old son, Jack Heartfilia, sleeping in the arms of a, for once, calm Natsu. He was stroking the little head carefully with a soft smile on his face. Suddenly Jack opened his mouth and burped, a purple cloud of poison coming out at the same time, Natsu barley able to dodge. Then he laughed.  
"That is my godson." He said, pride lacing every word. Lucy laughed.  
"That has happened a few times now. I'm just glad that I'm immune to it." She said, obvious pride in her voice as well. Natsu grinned at her.  
"Didn't expect anything less of the woman who is now the strongest female mage in Fairy Tail according to Sorcerer Magazine." He said, pointing to the paper on the table that featured Lucy during the GMG just 2 weeks earlier where she had beaten both Erza and Orga during one of the three way matches. Erza being part of Fairy Tail A and Lucy being part of Fairy Tail B.  
Lucy grinned at him and rested her head against the father of her son, her mate and fiance.  
"It's mostly thanks to me being mated to Cobra. The mating bond makes me immune to any poison that is weaker then his." She laughed, Natsu grinned and nodded.

The Fairy Tail story had a new chapter with the birth of Jack. The following years saw several more children being born from likely and unlikely pairs.

END OF CHAPTER 16 and of this story...

AN / I hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it =D I would appreciate to hear your thoughts about the story so that when I write my next story I can make it as good or even better.


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